


Adventures By an Everyday Recluse (ABER)

by taronfanfic



Category: British Actor RPF, Taron Egerton - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-12-14 12:43:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 35,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21015971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taronfanfic/pseuds/taronfanfic
Summary: Plucked from your small town life in Aberystwyth by one of your oldest friends, Taron, and given the chance to travel the world with him sparks off your creativity. You start writing a blog to documment your adventures, the sites you see, the fancy hotels you stay in, and as the friendship between you blurs and develops into something more the relationship becomes the centre of your blog, and the rest of the world's fascination!





	1. Chapter 1

Regret was a word that came to mind far too often. You regret taking your shitty job in a local clothes shop. You regret moving back home from Manchester. You regret taking English as your degree subject and you regret taking a gap year because you’d done fuck all with it! The last 10 years had got you no further on in life whilst everyone else seemed to have got their lives on track. Nothing confirmed the regret more than sitting in the living room of Tina’s house with your mum by your side and Tina’s perfect golden son sat opposite you. You regretted agreeing to come here today, but at least you’d have a story to tell at work tomorrow when someone asked how your weekend was. Saying you’d spent Sunday afternoon with your hometown’s favourite new celebrity, Taron Egerton, would impress a few people for at least a few minutes.

Taron was born just 10 days before you which meant you’d known him your whole life. Your mums had become close friends through having children at the same time and so your close friendship with Taron was inevitable. It didn’t last forever though and as you made your way through school you slowly but surely drifted further apart and into different friendship groups. He reappeared in your life when you were 16 and he started dating your best friend, Jessica. Everything slipped back into place and it was nice to have him around again but 9 months down the line and their breakup forced you to pick a side. Everything Taron went on to do and achieve was fed back to you via your mum and the more successful he became the more your mum went on about it. She’d claim him as her own son if she could get away with it! It made you resent her slightly. It made you feel like you’d achieved nothing; she didn’t have anything noteworthy to share about you and you hadn’t made her proud like Taron had done for Tina. It was just another reason on the long list of why you hated your life. 

***

“Do you want to come and see some of the things I’ve managed to steal from film sets?” Taron asked you from the doorway into the living room. It pulled you out of your self-deprecating thoughts and you tried to smile back at him as you gave him a quick nod and stood up from the sofa. You followed him upstairs to the smallest bedroom of the house which still contained most of his teenage belongings. “Sorry, that was a really lame thing to ask but you looked like you needed saving from my mother!” He laughed gently as he sat down at the top of his single bed and nodded for you to join him at the other end.

“It’s alright, thanks for getting me out of there. So what have you managed to nick?”

“You’re genuinely interested?”

“Nah, not really. I was just trying to keep the conversation going.” You admitted coyly.

“I was gonna say!” Taron laughed. “I forget how well I know you… I didn’t think you’d give a shit about all that.”

“I don’t really give a shit about much these days.” It wasn’t the sort of comment you’d usually make. Pretending everything was absolutely fine was more your style but there was something about Taron that gave you the confidence to let your guard down a bit. You knew he wouldn’t judge you or go talking to other people about you.

“Y/N…” He dragged your name out with genuine concern. “Talk to me.”

“Ah just ignore me, I’m being an idiot.”

“I’m sure you’re not. Come on, what’s up?”

“I just feel stuck.” You looked into his eyes and could feel your tears forming so quickly looked away and took in a deep breath. “My mum is constantly comparing me to you and I feel like such a failure. Everyone’s got their shit together and I’m still here in Aber doing a job I could have walked into straight after college. I hate it. All of it.”

“Hey, don’t go hating on Aber! I miss this place like you wouldn’t believe, literally crave it some days when I’m away!”

“Yeah but that’s because you’re not here for long enough to remember how dull it gets. You’re only back here when everyone else is at Christmas and it’s not so bad then. But once you all go back to your fancy jobs and normal lives with girlfriends, wives, houses, children… it’s just me left here.”

“True. The fancy job isn’t all it’s cracked up to be though…”

“Taron.” You rolled your eyes at him, knowing exactly what he was trying to do but not taking the bait.

“Alright, so the job is incredible. I can’t lie! The lifestyle that goes with it… not so much. You’re not the only one who gets lonely, or feels like everyone else is off living the normal life with a 9-5 job, getting married, having children, buying a 3 bed house on a nice estate… I’m definitely not doing any of that and trust me, there are days when I wish I was.”

“Sorry.”

“For what?” he questioned you instantly.

“Not thinking. I never thought that would be something we’d have in common. I just presumed you were living this amazing life and mixing with other celebrities, going to fancy parties and having way more fun than the rest of us, even those with the ‘normal’ lives.”

“Easy presumption to make. Yes I know other famous people and I get to go to a few fancy parties but even they end up being a bit shit when you’re on your own and everyone else is being pretentious… That’s why I come back here as often as I can, this place keeps me sane!” Taron sat back and rested his head against the wall.

“Well I guess someone’s got to love it!” You chuckled slightly and made Taron smile. 

“That’s more like it. That’s the Y/N I know… You’re not stuck here you’ve just not found your calling in life.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well some people are destined to be successful actors…” He gestured to himself camply “Others teachers, mothers, bakers, fashion designers… it could be anything. You just need to find that passion.”

“Easier said than done!” You scoffed having already heard something along those lines a thousand times before.

“I know, I know. I got lucky. You will find it though… what did you do at Uni?”

“English. Bit of a waste of time really, and before you say it no I don’t want to teach!”

“I wasn’t going to say it!” Taron held his hands up defensively. “You had a gap year though, or at least you did according to my mum and she’s all-knowing with the Aber gossip. Did you travel?”

“I planned to but never made it out of Wales.” You covered your face with your hands in embarrassment. “I’m just not doing well at this whole life thing.”

“Enough with the self-pity!” Taron nudged his foot into your leg to get you to look back at him. “Just think ‘fuck it’ and go for it. Travel and see the world, what’s stopping you?”

“It’s effort, and commitment, and I just don’t think I’m in the right headspace to be able to go it alone successfully. I’d end up accidentally getting myself killed or something!” You shook your head and batted away his idea without a second thought.

“Come with me then!” He offered.

“What?”

“Come with me. You won’t have to organise the when’s and where’s and you won’t be on your own, and there’s reduced chance of accidental death because I’m not allowed to go anywhere dodgy even if I wanted to … I mean it might not be your ideal way of traveling, with business class flights and 5 star hotels…” He added sarcastically.

“No, don’t be ridiculous!”

“I’m not. You’d be doing me a favour.” Taron laughed softly.

“Taron, no.” You continued to turn him down.

“Why not? What have you got to lose?” The more he pushed things the more you realised that his offer was a serious one and not just a polite way to try and make you feel better without actually wanting it to happen. “You hate your job anyway so that’ll be easy to quit… everything else will be waiting here for when you get back. Plus you’ll get away from your mum for a while!” Taron sat forward and rested his elbows to his knees as he waited eagerly for your answer.

“Are you sure though? Because I can’t promise that I’ll be the best company, and I’m going to feel guilty for sponging off you and tagging along. Also… this is going to sound weird however I phrase it but, we’re not exactly best mates. We see each other once or twice a year for a couple of hours, is it not going to be odd suddenly like, living on top of each other?”

“Y/N I’m sure. I think it’s more exciting that we don’t know each other quite so well anymore. If I went with one of my best mates they’d do my head in! But I know you’re alright, you’re good fun and I trust you. So trust me when I say this will work. You can go off and do your own thing, see the sites and shops and whatever you want. We won’t be together 24/7 and if something isn’t working then we’ll just talk it through like we’re doing now, we’re both adults. You can stay for as long or as little as you like, no pressure.”

“I still think you’re mad, but if you’re serious about the offer then how can I say no?” You felt yourself smiling in disbelief.

“I’m serious! You need to get out of here and I need some company so please don’t say no.” Taron offered out his palm and waited for you.

“I’m not going to say no… it’s an easy yes!” You grabbed hold of his hand and started to laugh with excitement. “Thank you, Taron!”


	2. Chapter 2

New York was the first destination on the cards. You’d got yourself over to Heathrow and met Taron at the airport for your late afternoon flight, keeping very much to yourself as he was traveling with the rest of his management and publishing team and you didn’t want to get in the way. Your seat on the plane was just across the aisle from them and it gave you that extra bit of space you needed. Flying had always made you nervous. Half way though the flight Taron switched seats with his publicist, Jane, and shuffled across to see how you were doing. He’d had his head in a book for the last few hours which had pleasantly surprised you.

“Having fun over here?”

“About as much fun as you can whilst hurtling through the sky in what is essentially just a giant tin can with wings.” You finished off the last of your gin and tonic before turning sideways in your seat and stretching your legs out.

“Ha, let me rephrase my question then. Is the movie list up to date?”

“Yeah, it’s not bad. I see you’ve been reading instead though. What’s it about?” You nodded down to the book in his hands.

“It’s a thriller, this guy gets shot in his home and then wakes up in hospital to find his daughter has been kidnapped. He’s just agreed to the ransom demand but you just know it’s not going to go to plan!”

“Nice and cheery then!”

“Got to delve into some darkness, helps to remind you that your own life is pretty great at the moment.”

“Ah so that’s why I’m here.” You half joked back to him. “So when you’re done with a long day of boring interviews you can see me and think ‘things could still be worse!’”

“You’re terrible!” Taron laughed. “You know that’s not why I invited you so shut up.”

“So why did you invite me?”

“For the company. No one else I know was in your position… able to drop everything and come and see the world with me. You’re luckier than you think!”

“We’ll see about that. This could all end in disaster, you never know!”

“So bloody negative. I’m determined to change your mind set, y’know… I don’t know how, but I will!” He leant across and tapped his finger against your temple. “You will have fun.” You rolled your eyes at him as you got up from your seat and made your way down the aisle to the toilets. Taron was literally the polar opposite to you in character. He had the confidence, the charm, the constant positivity and extrovertist ways that you had only dreamt of. Maybe some of those traits would rub off on you in the coming weeks of this trip. Or maybe you’d end up being the one to drag him down from his optimistic level…

As you returned to your seat Taron was smiling cheekily. He passed over your headphones and pointed quickly at the screen in the back of the seat in front. A look of suspicion flew back his way as you pressed play and waited for the film introduction to conclude, revealing the Kingsman lettering drawing slowing into shot.

“You’ll like this one.”

“Oh really? I heard the lead actor’s a bit of an arsehole.” You put your headphones on and ignored Taron’s disgruntled look, settling back into your seat and watching the film anyway. You’d already seen it at least 5 times, what with your mum being the weirdly proud ‘almost’ mother, but it was still a good film and it would kill some time.

***

The 5 star hotel was exactly that. Grand and pretentious with lavish marble floors and doormen who carried your cases up to the room. You’d been upgraded into one of the suits now that Taron had a +1 with him and as tempting as the king sized bed looked you immediately took your place on the sofa, stretching your legs out to test its length.

“Alright over there?” Taron asked as he flopped back against the bed and kicked his shoes off.

“I’m good, don’t even think about offering to swap because I won’t.”

“It hadn’t even crossed my mind! I’m too hungry to be thinking about anything else.”

“Urgh, food, yes! Now you’re talking.”

“Give me 5 minutes to freshen up and then we’ll head out and see what we can find.” Taron pulled a clean shirt out of his case and made his was across to the bathroom. “With the sleeping arrangements though… don’t feel you have to stay there. There’s more than enough room in that bed for two and I’m pretty sure you’ll be in there before the end of the week anyway so don’t put yourself out on my account.” He cast you a wink as he closed the bathroom door and you found yourself frowning at his comment. It made you reach for your journal and start to scribble away, analysing the rest of the day’s details to work out if it was meant to be taken in a flirtatious manner or if you’d just misread it. You never went anywhere without your journal. It would save you from the silence of the lunchroom at work, it would listen to all your fears and worries at the end of each day and it was the place where you wrote down stupid things other people had said or done just for your own amusement at a later date. Now it was about to be filled with tales of your adventure, tales that you’d look back on in 20 years’ time and hopefully smile at.

Deciding where to eat was easy. Your stomach rumbled loudly as you crossed the road and you led Taron into the first place you saw, a bustling burger bar that would satisfy your cravings for everything unhealthy in one go. Beers were ordered too and as you relaxed back into your seat you found yourself genuinely smiling for the first time in forever.

“I was a bit worried on the flight over here that I’d made the wrong decision.” You kicked off the conversation. “But now I’m here I feel loads better.”

“Glad to hear it. It’s still an open invitation so if you change your mind again and want to go home then you can… I hope you don’t though.” The eye contact between you lingered before Taron felt he had to explain himself further. “I just mean it’s nice to be able to do stuff like this. When I’m on my own I stay in and get room service so you’re giving me a reason to be less of a recluse.”

“Likewise. Recluse is my middle name… but I’m actually excited to get out and explore tomorrow. I’ll note down any good restaurants I see and then we can try them out.”

“Sounds like a plan. Is that what you were writing down earlier? Like a to-do list for tomorrow?”

“Oh no, that was my journal. It’s full of nonsense really. I just write what’s in my head and it helps me to make sense of things sometimes. I’m going to add in more about what I see and do on this tip as it’ll be good to look back on.”

“So old school! I thought everyone blogs these days?”

“Yeah they do. No one would want to read about my depressing failure of a life though.” You took a long sip of your beer.

“I think you’d be surprised. You’ve got wit and a great way with words, and this experience isn’t exactly going to be your everyday gap year travels. I get asked about it a lot when I go home so people will definitely be intrigued!”

“Ha, I’d just end up writing sarcastic reviews of my nights on 5 start hotel sofas and rating the pillow chocolates… the things you don’t ever read on trip advisor!” You both laughed as you realised just how brilliant this could actually be.

“See, you’ve already got me laughing! Please write this!” Taron leant in against his side of the table eagerly.

“I’d need a good blog title…” You paused to think. “Adventures by… an everyday…” You thought aloud.

“Recluse?” Taron smiled and you immediately pulled out your phone and noted it down.

“If you take out the ‘an’ it’s an acronym for Aber! Literally perfect.”

“You’ve just put Dancing Queen in my head. ‘See that girl, watch that scene…’” He started to sing. “No, wait! ‘See the world, watch that scene… below average dancing queen!’ There you go, that’s your tagline!”

“Rude, but I’m keeping it!” You grinned as you noted it down in your phone too, listening to Taron giggling away to himself. Making this blog would amuse the both of you, if no one else, and that alone was a good enough reason to write it.


	3. Chapter 3

Where to start with a brand new blog is such an open-ended decision for someone as indecisive as me to make. So I’m not going to have a start. No back-story, no ‘these are my aims’, nothing. You’ll pick the basics up along the way so all I’m going to say is that I’m currently sat in Central Park and it’s gloriously sunny today. Jet lag is a bitch and I’ve been up since 5am but on the plus side I’ve seen a plethora of adorable dogs going for morning walks and an even better looking array of New York’s dog owning men. Win!

I suppose I should thank my travelling companion, David (not his real name because he’d put me on the next flight home if I did that!), for letting me tag along and see the world. He won’t be featuring much in the tourist side of this trip because he’s one of those fortunate bastards who get to travel the world and call it ‘work’. I on the other hand ditched my job last week and plan on running my savings into my overdraft and beyond. So David, when you read this later on, expect me to be asking for a loan imminently…

We’d joked about this blog being the things you don’t see on TripAdvisor, but I’m totally going to go there. No one ever posts a review about the comfort of the sofa in a 5 star hotel suite but I can let you all know that I was pleasantly surprised. Perfect length, could have done with a bit of extra width but that’s probably more noticeable when you’re lying facing David, lording it up in his king sized bed. Nope, not jealous in the slightest. I also totally stole his pillow chocolate and then denied all knowledge of there ever being two in the first place. Sorry, not sorry, but I was still ravenous even after the burger I demolished last night.

Oh my days there’s a French bulldog puppy… THERE’S TWO! Right this is me signing off to go and see if I can adopt a dog for the rest of my stay in NY. (That’s a terrible idea because I won’t be able to say goodbye when we fly down to LA, but David told me to say ‘fuck it!’ in life and go for it, so this one’s on him. Ha!)

I was thinking about signing off with my bank balance so you can watch it diminish with me, but that would get too depressing too quickly, so instead I’m going to stick with part of my blog tagline.

Below Average Dancing Queen (BADQ for short) X

“I bloody love this already!” Taron exclaimed as you showed him your first draft attempt over lunch.

“You don’t mind being mentioned?”

“No, it’s cool. Just don’t put in any details about what my work involves and I’m happy to stay as the mysterious travel companion.” He smiled as he passed your phone back to you.

“Good… I’m going to have to watch what I write about you if you’ll be reading this. No moaning about when you’ve left the bathroom in a state!” You joked.

“Hey, I can be tidy when I need to be! … Don’t censor yourself on my account though. If you want to show me any of it then great, but this is like an extension to your journal and I wouldn’t go reading that so I’m happy to leave you to it. Your blog, your experiences.”

“It was your idea though, so as long as you’re sure?”

“Y/N, it’s fine. I trust you. This is your thing now and it’s going to be great!”

“Thanks, T.”

“You’ve not called me that for years!” He beamed before taking a sip of his drink and you found yourself blushing slightly.

“It’s been years since we’ve spent this much time together.”

“I know, it’s nice though. I like having you around. It was making me reminisce this morning about how you’ve kind of drifted in and out of my life over the years, reminding me of when I first got together with Jessica and it was a bit like two for the price of one because I got an old friend back too.”

“I was wondering where you were going with the two for the price of one thing there! Could have been dodgy!”

“Cheeky threesome.” He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

“In your dreams!”

“Oh there have been many!” He looked down to his watch. “I can’t stay for too much longer I’m afraid, my meetings start again in 10 minutes so I’ll see you back in the hotel later.” Taron stood up and placed a quick kiss to your cheek on his way out of the café. “Don’t go adopting any dogs this afternoon!” You laughed to yourself as you unlocked your phone and posted your first blog post. It was a weird feeling setting something like that free for potentially the whole world to see. Realistically a handful of strangers would stumble upon it if you were lucky but blogging fame wasn’t exactly your aim. It was just nice to have somewhere to keep your memories and photos together; and somewhere to bash out your conflicting feelings about how seriously you should be taking Taron’s flirting, especially now you knew he wouldn’t be reading it.

You spent a few hours walking the streets of New York and taking in some of the main tourist attractions. With the rest of the week ahead of you there was no need to rush so when a wave of tiredness hit you trudged back to the hotel and crashed out on the sofa for a quick nap. It wasn’t the alarm on your phone that woke you, but the feel of a blanket being placed over your body.

“Shit, sorry.” Taron whispered from above you as you sleepily opened your eyes. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“What time is it?”

“6:20pm.”

“Urgh, ok. I shouldn’t sleep anymore else I won’t be tired later.” You groaned as you sat up and stretched out your arms and legs.

“You also should have slept in the bed, it’s way more comfortable… I’m going to insist on it later.”

“I’m fine.”

“So you keep saying, but I’ve never known anyone turn down a cosy spooning opportunity…” Taron replied as he turned away from you, not giving you chance to take in his expression and see if he was kidding or not. “When was your last time?”

“Spooning?” You questioned back sleepily as your mind ticked over and wondered if he was really asking about sex instead.

“Yes, spooning. Wake up, princess!”

“Hey!” You gave him your best grumpy pout as he sat back in the centre of his bed. “It’s been a while…”

“Like 6 months?”

“Is that what you count as a while?”

“Longer!? A year?” Taron questioned in surprise.

“Getting nearer…”

“Y/N!”

“What!? I told you I’ve been living under a depressing rock in Aber for way too long, I don’t know what you expect!”

“No, no. I didn’t mean it like it was a bad thing, I’m just surprised that’s all. I kinda figured you’d been on your way to being settled with someone and then it didn’t work out, hence the stuck-at-home-ness.”

“I wish! Even with the not working out part…”

“Well the men of Aber have been letting the side down leaving you on your own for so long! It’s a good job I’m here to wine you, dine you and then bring you back for a cheeky little spoon later!”

“You’re obsessed!”

“I sleep better with someone to cuddle.” Taron replied innocently. “It’ll be nice. Nothing more than that, I promise!”

“Hummm.” You didn’t give him a definite answer either way as you got to your feet and made your way to the shower. “We’ll see.”


	4. Chapter 4

I could get used to this. The freedom, the lack of responsibilities, just doing what I want, when I want… Do you know how many places in New York claim to do the world’s best cup of coffee? Too many is the answer. I’m sat in one of those places now, giving my feet a rest from this morning’s site seeing. No one needs to hear about the view from the Empire State Building but I’ll sum it up in one word for you: Lonely. The prices on the way in were a bit of a giveaway: Family, Couple or Groups. Nah, just me thanks. I went, I saw, I didn’t bother with the t-shirt. Maybe the generic tourist stuff isn’t what this trip is going to be all about for me…

I tell you what was good though – dinner last night. As soon as David said it was on him I knew exactly where I wanted to go. Riverpark. Fancy as fuck but totally worth it just for the view over East River alone. He said he wanted to wine and dine me and that’s exactly what happened. He’s been saying a lot of things in the past 48 hours actually… We’ve reminisced a lot. We’ve joked a lot. We’ve in a roundabout way covered my recent dating history or lack thereof. That was a fun one… For a while I was… hesitant? Confused? Dubious? Uncertain? (all of the above) about his genuine intentions for this trip, but last night he not so subtly revealed his true game. Let me explain.

Phase 1: Subtly drop hints about me being in his bed before the end of the week with an added over the top wink so he could play it off as a joke if everything backfired.

Phase 2: Insist on me staying in his bed. No wink this time. Cocky.

Phase 3: “I’ve never known anyone turn down a cosy spooning opportunity.” Followed by innocent promises of his offer being just a spoon and nothing more. Yeah yeah, I believe you.

So with his plan slowly unravelling before my eyes was I brave enough to resist his invitations? Well after a couple of bottles of expensive wine and a few extra drinks in the hotel bar last night, to put it simply: no. I went and climbed right in didn’t I! Now here is where things get awkward. I’m likening this to when you don’t hear what someone’s said to you and you ask them to repeat themselves. You have a maximum of 3 chances to understand what the hell they’re on about before you have to smile, nod, and pretend you knew exactly what they said. Asking them to say it a fourth time is just weird. So picture this…

I’m the pyjama wearing little spoon, comfy as anything after a brilliant evening, enjoying the physical closeness and warmth of having another human fitting perfectly in behind me. I’m smiling to myself thinking he was right all along, this is nice, it is innocent and pure and god I’ve missed the feeling of being held by someone. But then David forgot to tell his penis that he wasn’t invited to our private spooning party and he popped up trying to join the fun. What a dick!

So here’s where things get awkward. I know David’s aroused. He sure as hell knows he’s aroused. He also knows that I know because there’s no mistaking that his cock is pressed firmly against my arse!! So now the countdown begins. Either I get up and return to my sofa immediately, or wait for him to make a move before politely rejecting him and then returning to my sofa. Simple. Except neither of us moved. Fair play to him, he was sticking to his word. Just spooning, nothing more. Self-restraint is an impressive quality to have. So now it was on me to wriggle out from his grip and say goodnight. That was all I had to do, but why oh why was I failing to move a single part of my body. The longer I lay there the more it looked like I wanted something else to happen. But my naïve wine-fuelled-brain picked that exact moment to drop the bombshell thought into the front of my mind:

So this is what he really meant when he said he wanted some company whilst traveling.

Why he’s chosen me is anyone’s guess. People like me don’t sleep with people like David and that’s just a fact. He’s a 10 and I’m a 4 on a very rare good day. We are worlds apart and it’s sheer coincidence and luck that I even know him in the first place. So after an awkwardly long time spent being spooned by him and his not so little or subtle friend, I finally got my shit together and shuffled across to the edge of the bed, mumbling a ‘sleep well’ as I stumbled back to my sofa in the dark and worked out what to do next.

I decided I was going to play it cool and act like nothing had happened. Neither of us mentioned it this morning and somehow things weren’t awkward either. Result? Fuck knows, but what I do know is that he won’t be getting any of that anytime soon. Not because I don’t want to, girls would kill to have the opportunity to climb him like a tree and ride on his branch. He’s fit and I’d just be disappointing so I’ve got to prove a point. I never came on this trip with that in mind, it wasn’t even close to being on the cards as a possibility! So if he’s made it his mission, probably thinking I’m an easy target, I’m going to play the long game and make him work for it! 

BADQ x

***

“Don’t get too comfy, we’re going out in a bit.” Taron started to tidy up the room service plates and move them out into the corridor.

“What? I was planning on chilling out tonight, reading some of my book, watching a few episodes of Game of Thrones or something.”

“It’s a last minute invite that’s come through and I can’t really turn it down. The director for the film I auditioned for this morning is hosting it so if I can get in with him then it should up my chances of getting the role.” Taron started to look through the wardrobe and pulled out a crisp white shirt.

“Ahh, schmoozing time! I’m gonna leave you to it, but good luck.” You lowered yourself down to a more comfortable position on the bed and picked up your book.

“The bar is only down the road, so I was hoping you’d come with me. It won’t be a late one.” He placed his shirt and black suit trousers down on the end of the bed as you watched from over your book.

“But I don’t have anything to wear.”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s what all women say to try and get out of going to things.” He turned back to the wardrobe and pulled out the pale pink dress you’d brought, holding it out to the side as he gave you his best puppy dog eyes. “Please come with me.”

“Urgh! You don’t give up do you?”

“Not when I want something, no.” He smiled back as he handed your dress over to you and pulled his tshirt off over his head.

“I’m going to have to talk to people too, aren’t I?” You sighed, really not feeling in the sociable mood.

“Yes, but it’ll be the same old small talk questions for most of the night. How long have you known me, how do you like New York, what do you do, what are your plans…”

“My favourite!” Your sarcastic tone drew a concerned look from Taron as he sat down on the side of the bed.

“Is it really that bad? I thought you wanted to experience this side of things too?”

“Yeah, but I’m not going to have good answers for those kind of questions. Especially now I don’t even have a job!”

“Don’t worry about that, you’ll probably never see any of these people again so it really doesn’t matter what you say… you could make it all up and they’re not gonna know are they!?”

“I suppose.” You shrugged your shoulders back to him, still not sold on the idea.

“You could be… an author working on your first novel… a journalist?… a blogger! You are technically a blogger now so that wouldn’t even be a lie! You’ll be absolutely fine and I’ll be by your side doing 99% of the talking anyway. Please, Y/N.” His hand was resting on your lower leg, his eyes locked to yours, his chest temptingly bare. You hadn’t come on this trip to sit in hotel rooms doing exactly what you’d be doing at home, so why were you trying to refuse another great offer from Taron?

“Is it a free bar?”

“Yes.” He laughed softly. “I should have just told you that from the start, shouldn’t I?”

“Makes all the difference.” You smiled as you sat up and picked up your dress.


	5. Chapter 5

Following Taron into the bar was nerve-racking. It felt like everyone turned to look at you to see who you were and what you were wearing. This definitely wasn’t your scene. You copied Taron, taking a glass of champagne from the tray the waitress was holding and taking a large sip, hoping the alcohol would give your self-confidence the boost it desperately needed. Taron moved further into the room, smiling confidently and casting warm hello’s at everyone he passed on the way. You followed closely behind and kept your head down, avoiding making eye contact with anyone in case you were accidentally drawn into a group conversation without him.

“Hey! Great to see you again, thanks so much for inviting me down tonight!” Taron greeted the film director who was dressed casually, unlike everyone else in the room.

“Glad you could make it, and bring a friend too.” The director looked over to you and reached out to shake your hand.

“This is Y/N, she’s a very old friend of mine who is accompanying me for a few months and writing some pieces for her blog along the way.”

“Hello.” Was all you could offer as you shook his hand quickly and then returned to your drink, mentally cursing Taron for making you sound better than you actually were.

“You’re a blogger? How fantastic. What sort of things do you write about?” He asked with interest.

“Oh, erm… I’ve only just started really so I don’t think I’ve found my niche yet. Anything and everything.”

“Right, right. Well best of luck with it!” That was that, the conversation moved very swiftly back to Taron, the film, friends and colleagues they had in common. From the sounds of things Taron didn’t need to be doing any schmoozing, he was well in there! You finished your drink and got hold of a second glass, enjoying your position in the dark corner of the room and how it gave you the perfect vantage point for people watching. Picking out the +1’s was easy; there were the bored husbands eyeing up the waitresses, the even more bored girlfriends who were just there for the photo opportunities, and then there was you, mentally writing a truthful blog post about how events like these are a pretentious waste of time.

“See, told you it wouldn’t be that bad.” Taron returned his attention to you as the film director was distracted with a new arrival, but you didn’t get him to yourself for long.

“Taron! Long time, no see.” Another random man appeared and pulled Taron in for a hug. “How are you doing?”

“Yeah man, I’m good, things are good. This is Y/N, she’s travelling with me for a few months whist she works on her debut novel.”

“What!?” You almost choked on your champagne as Taron introduced you with a line of utter bullshit. He gave you a wicked smile as the man turned his attention to you and let out an impressed noise.

“Author, eh? What’s an intelligent girl like you doing with this idiot then?” He joked.

“I was in need of inspiration for one of my characters who’s a bit thick between the ears and Taron was the first person who came to mind.” You replied, feeling pleased with your comeback and casting a smug smile back to Taron.

“Oh she’s good!” He replied to Taron. “I’ve got to run, but enjoy the rest of your evening and we’ll go for a beer soon!”

“Nicely done, dickhead. You can go and get me another drink for dropping me in it like that.” You pushed your shoulder into the side of Taron’s arm disgruntledly.

“That was an impressive comeback though, get thinking of some more because this game is going to become very amusing.” He walked off to get two more drinks and you were left rolling your eyes. Of course this was a game; throw you into a conversation with no warning about what your job title might be and see if you can bullshit your way back out of it! You worked your way around the room and survived being a chef, a nurse and even the least flexible yoga instructor in the world. The more ridiculous Taron made the jobs and the more champagne entered your system the easier things became. You were well past the point of caring what people thought and genuinely enjoying the in-joke Taron had created.

“I’m gonna make you an offer.” You placed your hand to Taron’s shoulder and pulled him back from approaching the next group of people. “I’ll introduce myself this time, and if I can make you laugh with my job title and survive the interrogation about it, we can leave straight after and get back to the hotel.”

“I think that’s a fair deal. You’ve been very impressive so far, passed with flying colours in the art of bullshitting.” 

“I’ve learnt from the best.” You confidently left Taron behind and approached a group of 4 men, slotting straight into their circle and introducing yourself. “Hi, I’m Y/N, I’m here with Taron tonight” You stepped to the side to allow him to join the group. “I work for the UK Space Agency and we’re on the same fitness programme at the moment.” You looked across to Taron who was struggling not to spit his drink out.

“Oh wow, so what is it you’re in training for?” The man to your left asked straight away.

“I’ll be going up to the international space station in a couple of months.” You nodded back before casting a smug look in Taron’s direction as he covered his mouth with his hand in an attempt to stop himself from laughing. The conversation continued for another 5 minutes with you being quizzed on how this linked in to the film industry and what scientific experiments you’d be completing on the space station. Thankfully Taron jumped in to save you just as you started to get the giggles.

“Our car is outside so we’ll have to leave you to enjoy the rest of your night.” He took hold of your hand and led you out the bar, bursting into laugher as soon as you were both outside.

“The international space station!?”

“Why settle for the ordinary?” You giggled back, not letting go of Taron’s hand as you made the short walk back to the hotel.

Back in your room you slipped your heels from your feet and revelled in the comfort of the flat floor as you collected a glass of water. The top three buttons of Taron’s shirt were open as he started to walk towards you. His fingers lifted the top of the glass out of your grip and placed it down on the table. He hadn’t said anything yet and you were left watching him closely, wondering why he wouldn’t let you sober up.

“Confidence looks sexy on you.” He spoke softly and you immediately dropped his eye contact, focusing instead on the skin of his chest and the heat from his body as he moved inside your personal space. His lips pressed firmly to yours as his fingertips paused on the side of your neck and softened your urges to resist him. The feel of his mouth slowly opening had you mirroring his move, your tongue waiting to feel his and responding quickly when it did. It was so long since you’d last kissed someone like this that you were desperate to keep it going, fearful that Taron would pull away and have a face full of regret. His hand lowered from your neck across your shoulder and down your arm, taking hold of your hand and guiding it down to his crotch, making you feel his erection through his trousers. All those images of regret disappeared from your mind and were replaced with nothing but filth. He wanted you, he was ready for you, and your throbbing core was firmly taking control of your actions.

As you gripped at his length through the fabric you felt him pause the kiss, an involuntary moan filling your mouth instead as Taron started to pull back.

“Don’t you dare leave me hanging tonight.” He warned as he opened his shirt, his eyes never leaving yours.

“Which version of me would you prefer? The author, the astronaut… probably the nurse but I’m afraid I don’t have the outfit.” You teased back as you moved his shirt off his shoulders and ran your hands down his chest.

“No outfits needed for what we’re about to do…” his words stirred up a stronger fire in the pit of your stomach. You’d spent all night pretending to be anyone other than yourself but in that moment you could only be you. The wave of confidence you were riding was something else, allowing you to drop your dress to the floor in front of Taron and press your body tightly up against his as you kissed him seductively. “Get on the bed.” He ordered as he dropped his trousers to the floor and collected a condom. Eyeing up his body was instinctive as he walked round the room in his tight boxers. The champagne fuelled haze block out your negative thoughts, leaving nothing but lust and desire. You discarded your underwear off the side of the bed then lowered your back down to the mattress as Taron prowled over you. A powerful kiss to your lips matched his strong gip on your thigh as he pushed your leg further to the side so he could position his hips. Everything burnt with pleasure as he thrust into you with deliberate power. It was fast and desperate. Your body rocking against his as you let him take you from above. Groans and moans left his open mouth as he worked towards his release. There was a moment when you caught him smiling down at you, enjoying the fact that he was the one making you screw your face up in pleasure. You couldn’t help it though, he felt amazing. With every thrust your body responded, screaming out in delight. The fast pace was relentless, his hips slamming into your frame over and over as he filled your core. Your orgasm shot round your body sooner than you’d have liked but Taron didn’t seem to care. He slowed his rhythm and worked you through it with skill before coming shortly after.

“Y’know, I don’t think I fancy another night on the sofa.” You turned over to face Taron as he got into bed beside you after cleaning up.

“I’d be pretty offended if you did after that!” He reached out and pulled you in closer to his side.

“I’ve had a lot of fun tonight, thank you.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” He kissed you a sweet goodnight and you happily settled down against his arm.


	6. Chapter 6

“He won’t be getting any of that anytime soon.”

…

Ooops?

I know, I know. It’s been all of 24 hours and I’m a fucking idiot. Way to go with proving my point, teaching him a lesson or whatever else I thought I’d have the will-power to achieve. Can I blame the champagne? I’d had a LOT of champagne… It is my fault though. I should have stopped things. But if this is what he had in mind when he said to me on the flight over here ‘you will have fun’, then god was he right!

Empty hotel rooms the morning after the night before have a weird feeling to them. David has more work to attend to so I’m writing from beneath the covers of the king sized bed (10/10 for comfort, springy-ness and… room for all activities.). Oh god that really happened, didn’t it? My head is pounding. I’ve not been this hungover since New Year, but it’s a sign that last night was amazing. I can’t lie to you, I don’t regret it. I’m annoyed that I didn’t get to play my own game and make him wait for it, but at the same time if I’d have known it would be that good I’d have dropped the tactics on spooning night. Honestly, embarrassing noises only ever heard in porn videos were filling the room but I couldn’t help it. I just hope he wasn’t disappointed. Nothing worse than the guilt of enjoying sex that the other person hated. I’d just like to note that it also wasn’t weird. I’ve known David my whole life and we were best friends as kids. It wasn’t until two days ago that I’d even thought crossing that line with him was an actual possibility, but now I have it makes me wonder how long he’s been waiting to do it. Have I just been oblivious in the past or is this simply an opportunistic chance at a bit of fun?

If you’re wondering how it even ended up at that point considering the whole he’s a 10, I’m a 4, why the hell does he find me attractive post, then listen up. We spent the evening networking in a bar and he thought it would be funny to have me pretend to be anyone other than myself. As of last night I own a posh restaurant in London, well on it’s way to getting a Michelin Star, I’m a yoga instructor, author, nurse and astronaut! Utterly ridiculous but also totally hilarious after a few glasses of champagne and pointless small talk with people I’m never going to see again. As a result of that my true weakness came from just 5 words.

“Confidence looks sexy on you.”

So there you have it. I’m a self-deprecating 4 who can be pushed up to a modest 6.5 with drunken confidence. Not quite so bad after all then, plus it is nice to be wanted. Maybe me and my new found confidence will go shopping later and buy a more daring outfit… once I’ve shifted this hangover, that is!

BADQ x

***

Another day, another coffee shop. New York felt loud and claustrophobic as your head begged you to go back to bed. The city excitement was wearing thin and you couldn’t wait to get down to LA and get some space, some warm sun on your skin and some much needed peace by the sea. Taron was still at the front of your mind. He was making you smile but his intentions still needed clarifying and there was only one conversation that would clear things up. It wouldn’t be an easy one to have, it wasn’t one you wanted to have, but the longer you left it the more awkward it would become. 

Y/N: So about last night…

You fired off an open ended text as you collected your coffee and made the short walk across to Central Park. Before you’d had chance to find somewhere to sit your phone was ringing in your pocket, Taron’s name in the centre of the screen.

“Hey, you didn’t have to call me.” You answered as your pace slowed.

“Your text sounded ominous and it’s easy to misread the tone so I thought this would be better. Are you okay?”

“Hungover, but good. Don’t let me drink that much champagne ever again.” Taron laughed softly from the other end.

“So about last night…” He fired your own statement back to you.

“Yeah…” There was a long pause as Taron waited for you to continue but you didn’t know what to say.

“You said you had fun.”

“I did.”

“So we’re good then?” He was sounding more confused as the conversation went on. “It’s like I said before we came out here, we’re both adults and if there’s any issues we can talk them through without making it into a big deal. You said you had fun but I feel like there’s a but coming…”

“Ok, so did you invite me out here because you wanted company from a friend or because you wanted sex?” You stopped walking as you asked the question, your mind instantly regretting wording it in that way and your body quickly filling with panic.

“Both.” He laughed. “I thought that would be obvious. I told you I was lonely. We’re both single adults who want to have some fun and that’s exactly what happened last night. We got a bit drunk and… well you know the rest.”

“Right.” You nodded to yourself despite Taron not being able to see you. It was the clarity you needed and his lack of offence allowed you to let some tension go from your shoulders.

“Is that not what you thought this was?”

“Honestly, no. It hadn’t even crossed my mind that you’d be interested in me. We’re leagues apart!”

“Seriously?… Shiiiit.” You could picture his hand rubbing across his forehead as he swore in that way. “So you mean the whole sofa thing was genuine?”

“What?”

“I thought you were deliberately playing hard to get, trying to work up a bit of a chase to get more of a thrill.”

“Taron! I was just being polite when it turned out we’d be sharing a room. I genuinely had no idea until you spooned me and made it perfectly obvious.” The realisation that you had more than one wire crossed was surprisingly helping to lift the atmosphere again.

“Oh god, I am so sorry! I wouldn’t have come on to you that strongly if I knew. I feel like such an idiot. You don’t feel like I forced you into anything do you? That’s the last thing I’d want!”

“No, no. Not at all. I definitely wanted to last night.” You laughed back to him.

“Well that’s a relief!”

“To be honest it probably wouldn’t have happened for a long while if you’d tried to be subtle. I’d have just thought you were joking and never believed that you’d genuinely want to sleep with me.”

“Don’t say that! I’ve always thought you were fit.” He flirted.

“Yeah, yeah. Never acted on it though, did you? Went for Jessica instead.”

“Back then you still looked at me like I was a 7 year old kid. I thought you thought it would be weird!”

“But not now!?”

“Nope.” He replied smugly. “That look you give me has changed. It’s no longer innocent…”

“If you say so, Egerton… I’m glad we’ve clarified everything.”

“Me too. Look after yourself and we’ll catch up later.” He had you smiling again, blushing at how easily he could read your true thoughts despite thinking they were well hidden. He was right too. When he started dating Jessica you still saw him as your 7 year old best friend; wide eyed and innocent as he ran around your kitchen with a red towel tucked in the back of his shirt pretending to be Superman. Kissing him then would have been all kinds of wrong. Your mind-set changed when you saw his interviews for the first Kingsman film. He’d matured overnight and you saw a totally different side to him. He was still Taron, but his cheekiness had an extra charm. He could draw your eye away from Colin Firth and suddenly you were questioning why you’d never noticed how good looking he was before. By that stage he felt so far out of your league that you were safest admiring from a distance, keeping the fun times as childhood memories.

But apparently not anymore. You two weren’t finished with the fun yet…


	7. Chapter 7

Hello blog, it’s been a while. Things got a bit David-centred back there and I needed a couple of days to myself to re-set my mind and get back to the original plan. I’m now in LA which means you can have a new 5 star hotel update. We’re staying in Beverly Hills and it’s incredible, the room has the best view and there’s a rooftop pool with a bar which I will definitely be making the most of. Everything here is beautiful, everyone here is beautiful, I’m lowering the tone but I can deal with that because I don’t have to look at myself so I can still reap the benefits of admiring everyone else.

Today is an interesting one. I can’t say anything too specific now I have a surprising number of you following this blog, but I bet you’d all love to be where I am now. I keep seeing famous people walking down the corridor and I end up doing double takes as I try not to freak out. I’m backstage at a well-known TV show which is currently running through a rehearsal before the real thing gets filmed tonight. It’s exactly as you’d imagine it to be. Alarmingly basic considering the array of names on the line up. There are runners who will get literally anything you ask for so I keep challenging them with British snacks. So far I have Custard Creams and Jaffa Cakes but it’s been 20 minutes since I asked for a bottle of Buckfast and no one has returned. The stuff is vile but I just wanted to be left in peace, there is such a thing as being too keen to help! I’ve only got another 3 hours left to kill before I can head back to the hotel and maybe go for a late night swim. Tomorrow I’ll be taking a hike in Runyon Canyon Park and exploring Hollywood so I’ll check in after and let you know my thoughts.

To answer the questions you’ve sent me wondering what the hell is going on with David: We spoke. We had more than one wire crossed. We are good. It’s nothing more than two people making the most of each other. There has been more spooning but no further forking to report on… I’ll keep you posted.

BADQ x

Watching Taron doing his Taron Thing, being his cheeky self and winning over the hearts of the room in less than 30 seconds, filled you with pride. You sat in the audience of The Late Late Show with James Cordon feeling wonderfully anonymous until Taron cast you a sweet smile when he thought the cameras weren’t on him. The woman next to you was quick to pick up on it, immediately asking if you knew him. You said you didn’t and tried to drop the conversation but your British accent did nothing to support your claim. She tried to dig further, asking where you were from, how long you’d been in LA for, why you were here, all genuine polite small talk questions but the way she looked back to Taron in between each one gave her game away. As soon as the show cut away for a break you made your escape back to Taron’s dressing room.

***

“What happened to you?” Taron asked straight away as he came through at the end of the show to collect his stuff.

“I was sat next to the world’s nosiest woman and she was doing my head in.” You picked up your bag and followed Taron back to the car.

“American’s are just friendly. You’ll get used to it.” He replied bluntly.

“She was trying to get me to admit that I knew you, and it’s annoyingly hard to deny when we have the same accent.”

“You should just say yes next time.” Taron was so blasé as he opened the car door and waited for you to get in first.

“What, and have her think that I’m your girlfriend? Think of the torrent of questions I’d get then!”

“Well I know you can bullshit your way out of anything!” He laughed as he joined you in the back of the car. “People are going to start asking eventually. Especially when you come with me to the premiere on Thursday.”

“No Taron, I’ve already said I’m leaving you to it on Thursday so don’t start that again.”

“Fine.” Taron folded his arms across his chest and looked out the window not saying another word to you for the rest of the journey. You hated that he never took your answers seriously. He always thought he’d find a way to get you on side and his perseverance was relentless. The thing that pissed you off most was the silent treatment. It was immature and petty and somehow managed to push all of your buttons at once. Taron knew this too. It was his go-to tactic whenever you argued as kids and you’d give in to him every single time just to get your best friend back. That would not be happening this time though. You’d given in to sleeping with him sooner than planned and as you looked out of your own car window you felt determined to stick this one out.

The silence was strangely amusing as you made your way back up to the hotel room. The longer it went on the easier it became to handle. You already felt like you had the upper hand once you’d muted your initial outburst of rage in the car. Taron was still tight lipped, but his body language was closed off way too obviously to be genuine. You could see through his act and knew that he’d be the one to crack first. In an attempt to keep up the façade you decided to get changed and head up to the rooftop pool, acting like you didn’t even want to be in the same room as him. Wrapping a towel around your bikini clad body as you came out of the bathroom was enough to catch his eye. His gaze followed you all the way across the room and as the door closed behind you the waiting game began.

Warm bubbles soothed the back of your neck as you relaxed in the hot tub and admired the gentle glitter of barely visible stars that fought their way through the LA night glow. The rooftop bar was empty, not even a barman in sight, but it was refreshing to be sober and thinking clearly for the first time in a while. Going up there was turning into your best decision of the day.

“Hey.” Taron’s voice was soft and pulled you out of your moment. You kept quiet as you watched him place his towel down on a chair and walk towards you in his swimming shorts. He stopped at the side of the hot tub and waited for your permission to let him join you.

“Go on then.” You rolled your eyes at him.

“I know the silent treatment was a shit move, but I was just pissed off.” He sat down next to you and let out a tiresome sounding sigh.

“The whole ‘we’re adults, we can talk about stuff’ thing does have to work both ways.”

“I know it does, and I’m sorry. It’s just been a long day and I needed you there.” He rubbed his fingers across his forehead.

“I was there.”

“Yeah but you left half way through the show. I know you’ve said why but I felt a bit abandoned. You have no idea how much easier those things are when there’s a familiar face in the audience to focus on.”

“You were amazing, everyone always loves you so you have nothing to worry about. You looked so confident and comfortable up there that I really didn’t think me leaving would matter.” You replied, suddenly feeling guilty for presuming that he’d be absolutely fine in that setting.

“That’s why I didn’t want to say anything about it. How can I be the one trying to instil confidence in you when I also want to have someone by my side to make me feel better?” This was the first time you saw a genuine vulnerability in Taron and you just wanted to pull him into the tightest hug.

“Because you’re only human.” You placed your hand to his thigh instead. “Is that why you’re so keen on getting me to the premiere?”

“I secretly dread them. I don’t want to let anyone down and I know I put too much pressure on myself.”

“Taron,” You paused and waited for him to look at you. “I never thought it would be me saying this to you, but you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Just keep being you and the rest of the world will see exactly what I do. That you’re incredibly talented, genuine and down to earth… Not to mention extremely handsome.” You tagged on the end with a cheeky smile. Taron could take compliments with an annoyingly straight face and it was always something you’d been envious of, but a hint of a smile started to appear and you knew you’d got through to him. 

“Thank you.” He leant in to kiss you and it took you by surprise. A second kiss followed his first, short and sweet like he was trying but failing to resist taking things further. You felt his hand rest on your waist and you instinctively wrapped your arms around him to stop him from moving away. As you kissed him back his hold on you tightened and soon enough he was moving you through the water to sit over his lap. “Inviting you out here was such a good idea.”


	8. Chapter 8

The familiar drop of arousal sank through your stomach at Taron’s touch. Soft lips, strong hands, warm skin. He explored your body with a slow pace whilst your tongues continued to play together. There were no fears flying through your sober mind, no doubts of regrets or feelings of unworthiness. This was happening for a second time and you were too excited to let anything ruin it. You ran your hands smoothly down Taron’s chest and out to his hips, letting your fingertips pull at the elastic in his waistband. A filthy giggle filled the air as your kiss broke off and Taron moved your hands away from his shorts.

“When was the last time you went skinny dipping?”

“I never have.” You felt the heat rushing to your cheeks as Taron untied the back of your halter neck bikini top and pulled the straps down your chest.

“Not even in the sea in Aber?”

“Fuck no, I’d freeze to death.” You hugged yourself in against Taron’s chest at the thought, suddenly feeling very self-conscious now you were topless. “I take it you have though?”

“On my 21st when I was drunk enough to think it was a good idea.”

“In November?! You’re insane!”

“I know, poor little guy went into serious hiding. But we’ve got the LA climate on our side tonight.” Taron left a teasing kiss to your lips as he slipped out of your embrace and climbed out the hot tub. He lowered a hand down his shorts as he stood at the edge of the pool, covering himself up before dropping his shorts to the floor. The pasty white skin of his arse was on full show for a few seconds before he jumped straight in the pool. “Shit!” Taron shouted back out to you in shock. “So fucking cold compared to that hot tub!”

“You make it sound so inviting.” You replied as you moved your bikini top to the edge of the hot tub and continued to watch Taron splash around.

“Come oooon.” He encouraged you. “It’s fine once you’re in.” You held your arm across your chest as you climbed out of the hot tub and walked across to the edge of the pool. Taron was grinning up at you like a Cheshire cat. His eyes were wide, his wet hair clinging to his forehead and making him look cuter than normal. He let out a wolf-whistle as you lowered your arm from your chest and took hold of the sides of your bikini bottoms, dragging them down your thighs and quickly stepping out of them. Being naked on the rooftop was daring and thrilling. It felt so unnatural but so natural at the same time. You didn’t dare wait on the edge of the pool for long, jumping forwards and accepting the freezing consequences. Your skin erupted into thousands of goose bumps as you returned to the surface of the water and let out a giggling scream.

“Fuck!” You shouted as you frantically swam across to Taron who was laughing at you. He wrapped his arms around you and pulled you into his chest, hugging you tightly and spinning you around in the water. As you came to a stop you wrapped your legs around Taron’s waist, your arms around his neck and pressed your lips to his in a passionate kiss.

“We should get back to the room.” Taron looked down to your connected bodies and as you lowered your legs from around him you knew exactly why he’d said it. Even in the cold water he already had a semi.

“I quite fancy a hot, steamy shower.” You replied suggestively as you moved over to the steps and climbed out of the pool, knowing full well Taron was admiring your arse.

“And I quite fancy you.” You looked back over your shoulder at his comment, your mouth open in false shock.

The journey back to the room was sped up when you whipped Taron’s towel away from his hips and ran off down the corridor with it. He swore after you, his hands covering himself as he ran to catch up and dive into your room before anyone saw him.

“You’re such a…”

“Such a…” You repeated slowly as you left the swimwear on the bathroom floor, hung up the towels and turned the shower on to heat up.

“A fucking minx!” Taron finally found the word he was looking for as he joined you in the bathroom and slowly backed you into the hot stream of water. It relaxed your body and warmed the atmosphere straight back up to where things had been in the pool. Quick kisses, dragging fingertips, bodies held together and moving slowly beneath the falling water. The giggling had stopped, the playful fun left outside the hotel door as the lust took hold and drew you together. You felt Taron grow hard against you as he pushed his fingers into you from behind. Your mouth fell to his shoulder as you widened your stance and let him scissor his fingers inside you and bring out a moan of delight. It only felt fair to lower your hand down his torso and take hold of his stiff cock. It caused him to falter as he struggled to focus on you, distracted by the feel of your hand stroking up and down his length. His hand pulled back and returned to your arse as he kissed your neck, your jaw and finally your lips again.

“Taron.” You whimpered his name softly against his lips, hoping you wouldn’t have to actually ask for him to take you.

“You ready?” He moaned back as he turned you around, pulled your hips up and pushed your back down, letting you lean your weight forwards and hold onto the shower taps on the wall as you arched your back for him. He moved into you, driving up against your clit straight away and receiving your loud cry of pleasure. You scrunched your face up in embarrassment that that noise had left your mouth so soon but the sensations rushing round your body were too good to silence. Taron thrust in behind you with a steady rhythm, his hands holding your hips firmly. The water from the shower was pounding down against your lower back and adding a new sensation into the mix. Your skin tingled from its repeated splash. The longer you tried to hold back your cries of pleasure the harder Taron thrust into you, determined to hear what he was doing to you. He quickened the pace, slamming into you faster and harder. His hand moved round so he could use his index finger to rub your clit and you dropped your head with a gasp. His touch had you rising to your toes and taking in a deep breath of the steamy air. There was no way you could hold on.

“Oh shit!” You cried as you shuddered through your orgasm with your eyes tightly closed. You felt your legs struggling to support your weight and Taron’s hand moved up and across your hips to hold you steady as he continued. “Taron.” You exhaled. “Fuck.”

He pulled out of you and let your feet lower back to the floor, allowing you to stand up and turn back to face him. You kissed him your best thank you, rotating around so the warm water was now running down his back. With your thumb running over the head of his penis and your hand wrapping around his girth you started to finish him off. Quick, hard pumps had him closing his eyes, giving you chance to admire his wet, naked body. It was flawless. You caressed his chest, his hips, arms, arse and thighs and listened to him moaning your name as your wrist never let up the pace. He glanced down to his cock as he hit the edge, his hips jutting forwards into you hand as his thighs tensed up and prepared for his release. Three shots of cum fired out falling to the floor and draining away with the water below. Taron ran a hand through his wet hair as he sighed in satisfaction before reaching out and pulling you in towards his chest. He kissed you again beneath the water, stroking down the back of your hair as his lips left short sweet kisses upon yours.

For the first time you felt able to get dressed in front of Taron, drying off from the shower and leaving your towel behind as you walked over to the bed to collect your pyjamas. He pulled on his boxers and sat at the top of the bed watching as you brushed through your hair. There was a sudden feeling of nerves deep in your stomach as you noticed how Taron was looking at you. Nothing had actually changed but you couldn’t help feeling like it was all about to.


	9. Chapter 9

The hike to the top of Runyon Canyon Park was a hot one. Taron had decided to ditch his morning gym session and come with you instead, taking the first half of the trek at pace and challenging you to keep up with him. You survived most of the way but didn’t bother to follow when he went jogging off to the first main viewing point. The tint of your sunglasses made the LA sky look an even brighter blue and the sunlight was reflecting back off the white rooftops and distant taller hotels. Taron threw a bottle of water in your direction as you joined him at the edge of the path.

“Think how much better that view will look from the top.” He commented.

“On you go, get me a photo and I’ll just wait for you here… write a blog post whilst I recover.” You gulped down some water and wiped the sweat away from your forehead.

“No way, we’re in this together.”

“Urgh.” You moaned.

“I’ll carry you to the top if I have to!”

“Piggy back?” You asked him cheekily.

“Come on then.” He crouched down and offered up his back to you, letting you jump on before he set off on a slow jog up the path. You giggled away like a small child, enjoying the short ride before Taron stopped and dropped you down to the dusty path again. “That’s my weight lifting done for the day.”

“Careful!” You poked him in the back, warning him off making a comment on your weight.

“You’re light as a feather, obviously.” He quickly added.

“Better.” You replied as you lifted his baseball cap off his head and put it back on him the opposite way round. 

The next part of the trek was steeper, broken into sections with wooden steps and larger chunks of rock. As the path narrowed you followed closely behind Taron, making the most of the view of his arse as he climbed up the steps in his shorts.

“You still with me?” He called back.

“Yeah, really well motivated right now.” You giggled.

“Oh yeah?” Taron asked without turning back. It was only as he heard the sound of your phone taking a photo that he stopped in his tracks and looked down at you over his shoulder.

“What!?” You gave him your best look of innocence and made him laugh.

“You wouldn’t have dared to do that on your first few days with me.”

“I’d have never gone skinny dipping either!” You joined him on the next step up and then continued to walk on ahead, feeling the end of the path was near.

“No, but I like this new found confidence you have. You never should have doubted yourself before.”

“Life doesn’t work like that, does it? You can build a kid up to have so much confidence and someone or something will come along and destroy it just like that.” You clicked your fingers. Taron didn’t have a comeback for that one but his silence didn’t matter when you reached the end of the path and took in the clear view down over LA. He stood next to you and let you take everything in. Where you were, what you’d done, who you were with and how things were beginning to change.

“Told you the view would be better up here.” Taron pulled his phone from his pocket and took a photo of the city below, then flipped the camera, putting his arm around your shoulders and pulling you in against his side for a selfie. “What was it that knocked you down?” He asked sincerely.

“Jessica.” You moved away and sat down on a bench.

“What, because I dated her?” Taron’s mind was quick to jump ahead as he turned back to face you again. He kept his distance, wanting to give you the space you needed to talk about this.

“No, no. It’s not to do with you, don’t worry.” You shook your head. “She was my best friend and we had each other’s backs. You knew that from when you two split… but when we moved to Manchester, everything changed.” You paused as Taron moved closer and sat down beside you. “We said we’d stick together, look out for each other, but she just disappeared and left me behind. It was like her new friends she’d known for all of 5 minutes were suddenly way more important than me. If one of them needed her she’d go running but when I needed her she was never there. I clearly didn’t mean as much to her as she did to me.”

“Y/N, that’s shit. I’m so sorry.” Taron tried to comfort you, taking hold of your hand as you stared down to the dusty ground between your feet. It was a bit late for that though. You’d come to accept the loss of that friendship years ago.

“It’s ok. I was bitter at the time and it didn’t do me any favours. I never made new friends, just spent 3 years feeling alone and forgotten. It’s why I came back home after Uni too. At least people in Aber liked me, they’d still speak to me or say hello if they saw me across the street.”

“I’d have done way more than say hello if I was there!” Taron squeezed your hand. “I wish you’d have told me this sooner.”

“You were always nice to me when you were back. Even though I picked Jessica over you when you two split. I regret that choice so much y’know.”

“Don’t regret it. It was the right thing to do at the time. None of us know how our future is going to play out… Look at us now, we didn’t see this coming, did we?” You let out a small chuckle at how right Taron was.

“Not at all. It’s amazing though. I wouldn’t want to be doing this with anyone else.” You looked back up to him and smiled.

“Me neither.” He smiled back.

“That’s why I’ve decided that I will come with you to the premiere tomorrow.”

“What!? Seriously?”

“Yes!” You laughed at his reaction. “I’m going to feel hideously unattractive surrounded by beautiful women in stunning dresses but I’m here with you, and I’ll do it for you. No one else matters to me.”

“You’ll always be the most beautiful to me. No contest.” He leant in and kissed you tenderly. “You’re making me so happy right now.”

***

I didn’t think I was the type of person to have a bucket list. There’s always been things I’ve wanted to do but I’ve never deemed them important enough to be on a list. Lists mean motivation, organisation and some degree of preparation and that’s far too many words ending in ‘ation’ for my liking… anyway! To those of you who do have a list and feel like living it out through the medium of this blog get your pens ready because I’ve managed to cross some off in the last day. Thinking about it most of them involve being wet (in every sense of the word!).

Skinny Dipping: What’s a naked night time dip in the pool between friends, eh? Fucking cold, that’s what! Amazingly done sober… what is happening to me?

Shower Sex: I realise this probably isn’t on everyone’s bucket list because you’re all doing it ALL THE TIME and therefore it’s just me, living under my rock for the past however many years… It still forking happened though (get it? Forking… oh I’m hilarious!). No but really, I’d questioned the logistics in my head. The thought of cold bathroom tiles, of slippery floors and cramped uncomfortable spaces, but when you have a luxury hotel suite with walk in wet room and unlimited supply of hot water – boy can you have some fun!

Climb a mountain: Wet from sweat. Ok so not an actual mountain but Runyon Canyon might as well have been. That hike was effort! If David hadn’t been with me I’d have given up at the half way point, but luckily his arse is a view worth following. We may also have kissed at the top… *giddy screams of romantic joy*

So we’re two forks and one romantic moment in to this trip… I don’t know. I just don’t know! I don’t think I want to know what any of this means. I want to be able to enjoy it for what it is, stay chilled and laid back and just go with whatever happens. But when he’s calling me beautiful, saying I’m making him happy and looking at me like I’m the best thing in the world, how can I not think of this as something more than two close friends enjoying each other’s company? I don’t want things to get messy. I don’t want to be the one to make things messy by asking. I don’t even know if I want a label. It feels way too soon for any of that. But at the same time I feel way too much for him, and it’s scary. This wasn’t meant to happen!

I feel like I should leave you on a more positive note, or at least something more amusing… turns out my porn-esque noises from Champagne Confidence Forking were not a one off. I was putting it down to breaking my drought, but maybe I should be putting it down to David instead. He’s so much better than my distant ex!! ;)

BADQ x


	10. Chapter 10

After a much needed refreshing shower, alone this time, and a quick bite to eat you headed out and onto the LA streets. Taron had left you armed with his credit card whilst he had an afternoon of interviews lined up and your mission was to find a dress and shoes to wear to the premiere tomorrow. He said it didn’t matter how much it cost, but there was no way you could justify spending a ridiculous amount on one outfit. You started in some smaller boutique and vintage shops hoping to find something a bit different. There was a gorgeous red 50’s style dress with sweetheart neckline and voluminous short skirt. You held it up to your body in front of the full length mirror and wished you were the type of girl who could pull it off. It would certainly draw attention your way and that wasn’t what you were after. Blending in to the background was more your aim. Not casual enough that you’d stand out by looking underdressed, but not over the top either. Something classic and understated. Vintage boutiques probably weren’t the best place to be looking.

High street stores were the next step up, still reasonably priced but you feared they wouldn’t be formal enough for a film premiere. As you browsed round the shop floor and avoided the over-friendly shop assistants you were hit with a wave of homesickness. It wasn’t something you expected to feel on this trip. This was your escape, your bid for freedom and your ticket out of Aber. Missing home wasn’t meant to happen. You grabbed a couple of items and went to hide in the changing rooms for a few minutes until the feelings had passed but the shop atmosphere wasn’t helping. It only reminded you of work. You’d quit with such haste to come on this trip that you never even worked your notice. There was no way they’d have you back, or write you a decent reference for your next job, whatever that might end up being. Suddenly everything felt wrong. You missed the normality of home, the familiar faces, smells, noises, routine. You even missed your mum a bit. But the thought of being back there was also terrifying. Your future was a massive unknown darkness. Travelling with Taron was great, but it would come to an end eventually and then what? The thought of it all ending physically hurt. Knowing that Taron would continue with this life once you were back in Aber, that he’d move on and find someone much better than you; it ached inside. Of course he deserved someone way better than you, he deserved to be happy and successful. You’d only ever wish that for him. But it made it clear to you that you couldn’t let this be anything more than a holiday romance. Or even just friends with benefits. You remembered what Taron had said back in New York: We’re both single adults who want to have some fun. That was all this was and you needed to keep that at the front of your mind. You couldn’t get too attached.

The motivation you had for dress shopping was long gone. Nothing you tried on would make you feel beautiful. Nothing would get you excited for the premiere tomorrow. At least having nothing to wear would be a genuine excuse for you not to go this time. You trudged back towards the hotel feeling in desperate need of the comfort of four walls, the silence of solidarity and the escapism of your book. On your way a familiar sign caught your eye; the stark black background and gothic lettering of The Troubadour. It was a venue steeped in history and you’d never known a band not kill to get a gig there. You crossed the street to take a closer look and saw the poster for one of your favourite bands. The tour dates that ran across the bottom had been stamped over with sold out but as soon as you saw they were playing The Troubadour that night you had to find a way to get tickets. A few fans were already camped out by the entrance so you asked them if they knew of any going spare but they said no. The venue said no too and the thought of stalking out the band in a desperate attempt to get on the guestlist was too much effort. With the way things were going at the moment you’d probably never find them. This just wasn’t your day. You accepted defeat and continued the walk back to the hotel.

***

Taron was singing to himself as he opened the hotel door. He left his bag and shoes at the side of the room before he jumped onto the bed, lying down on his side so he was facing you.

“Hello.” He said mischeiviously. “Did you manage to hit the limit on my credit card?”

“Not even close.” You replied quietly as you turned onto your side to face him.

“Have you been crying?” He asked instantly, propping his head up with the palm of his hand.

“Just a sad bit in my book.”

“Mmm, that book which hasn’t left the table since you put it down two days ago… Did you not find a dress?”

“Kinda gave up looking. There’s no point.” You mumbled back, knowing full well this was a pointless conversation because Taron would never agree with you. He hesitated with his reply.

“I… I thought I was the point.”

“You are. For now. But then what? I can’t do this forever. I have to go back home.” You turned onto your back and stared up at the ceiling to avoid Taron’s face.

“You want to go home?” He questioned with a stark sadness in his voice.

“I’m starting to think it. It’ll be easier that way.”

“What, how? Y/N, where has this come from?”

“Quit whilst you’re ahead, or something like that… if I go now it’ll be easier to handle. The longer I stay the more attached I’ll get and the harder it’ll be to let all of this go when the time comes.” You were phrasing it to sound like the trip, but deep down you knew you were referring to Taron.

“I don’t understand.” Taron sat up and looked down at you. “This has come from nowhere, Y/N. Everything was so good this morning, I leave you to find an outfit you feel amazing in and you come back telling me you want to go home? Did someone say something to you?”

“No. It just feels like all of this is too good to be true! I’m living a totally different life and when I think about home… it’s just a lot to get your head around.”

“Don’t overthink it. This is happening and it’s incredible!”

“It’s also terrifying. That my life can switch from shit to amazing so quickly… it can switch back just as quickly too.”

“Only if you let it. Please don’t go home, Y/N. I want you here, I want you to stay.” You felt his hand rest gently on top of yours. 

“I want to stay too, but…”

“No buts! You’re not going anywhere, I won’t let you. You’ve been like a different person these past few days and I’m not going to let you get stuck in this negative space again. It’s not you and you know it.”

“But I will have to go home at some point and-”

“I said no buts!” He poked you in the ribs and made you squirm. “We’ve got weeks left yet before I’m back in London and you know you’re welcome to stay with me there too, no one is making you go back to Aber…” Staying with Taron in London wasn’t something you’d even considered but as soon as he made the suggestion it felt like a weight had been lifted. There was suddenly a new door opening where being back in the UK didn’t mean going back to Aber, it just meant continuing the adventure. “But you shouldn’t be thinking about any of that now-“

“No buts!” You teased him back with a hint of a smile.

“Alright, alright. I was just saying things will look different when you’re feeling more positive.”

“I know.” You sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“You never need to apologise for how you feel.” Taron leant down and kissed your forehead.

“Well thank you then. For dealing with me when I’m miserable, especially when you’ve been working all afternoon. I’m the last thing you need!”

“Not true.” Taron moved away and started to rummage through his bag. “I got given something today by one of the journalists and you were the first thing that came into my mind.” You sat up on the bed and watched him with intrigue. “It was a few years ago, down the pub on New Year’s Eve, and you caught my eye. You were dancing like mad and singing along to this song… I think it had only just come out or something, but every time I’ve heard it since I only picture you dancing away like no one was watching.”

“Well now I know you were watching!” Taron laughed at your comment as he stood up from his bag and held his arm behind his back. “Which song is it?”

“I’ll tell you that later because I have two tickets to their gig tonight down at The Troubadour and I was hoping you’d like to go with me?” He held the tickets out towards you.

“Oh my god!” You jumped off the bed and threw your arms around Taron’s neck before he could answer you. “I tried to get tickets this afternoon but it’s been sold out for months! Oh my days you’re amazing!”

“Wow!” Taron chuckled. “It’s one extreme to the other with you today. I’m taking that as a yes.”

“Of course it’s a yes! They’re my favourite band!” You pulled back and kissed him on the cheek. “Beer, music and freedom from my head for a few hours. You are just… perfect!” You held his face between your hands and kissed him a sweet thank you.

“Let’s make a night of it then!” He smiled back and you felt the heavy cloud start to lift further away from your mind again. It wasn’t just the gig tickets that had lifted your mood. Somehow Taron always knew the right things to say. He was always patient, he always listened and did his best to understand your thoughts, even when you knew they weren’t making sense. There was no way you could go home now and walk away from the one person who was making you happy.


	11. Chapter 11

There was something about gigs that instantly lifted your spirits and reset your thirst for life. Having that shared experience with a group of people who are all in the same room for the same reason is amazing. Nothing comes close to the atmosphere of a small sweaty gig where you can look the band members in the eye and sing their songs right back at them; where you can see how happy you’re making them and they can see exactly what they mean to you. It was the one thing that kept you going during your time in Manchester, and something you missed sorely from living back in Aber. It just wasn’t a town where bands ever came to play and traveling for gigs was too much like hard work.

With your ripped denim shorts, black band t-shirt, deliberately messy hair and contrasting neat eyeliner you were good to go. Fans were still queueing outside the venue when you walked down the opposite side of the street and into a bar just round the corner. Taron ordered in two beers and two shots to get the night started.

“I am so ready for this.” You knocked your shot back and watched Taron do the same. “Although we probably should have eaten first.”

“It’s fine, we’ll get something later.” He took you over to a cosy booth in the corner of the room. “You look hot tonight.”

“Thanks.” You could feel the heat rising to your cheeks as your shyness tried to take hold but you forced it back with a long drink from your beer bottle. “This look is way more ‘me’ than pretty dresses will ever be.”

“Have you changed your mind about tomorrow night?” Taron inched closer to you and let his arm rest casually behind your shoulders.

“I don’t know.” You were honest. “I’d feel bad for going back on my word and leaving you on your own but if I felt like I did this afternoon then I don’t think I’d be able to.”

“It’s not going to be as bad as you think.” Taron paused to see if you were open to hearing him out, and as soon as you picked up his eye contact he continued. “I’ll have a suit fitting in the morning and if you want to I can get them to bring along some dresses. The afternoon will be quiet, a couple of interviews in the hotel then we’ll get ready. You won’t have to do any of the red carpet stuff with me, just stay in the car and it can take you to the private entrance. I’ll be as quick as I can and then I’ll come and find you and we can watch the film together and leave straight after, even swerve the after party if you want to avoid more free champagne!”

“Ok, that sounds doable.” You nodded and gave him a warm smile.

“Really?” He studied your face closely like he was searching for the smallest sign of doubt.

“Yes, really.” You moved your hand up to the side of his neck and gently ran your thumb along his stubbly jaw.

“Sure?”

“T, I’m sure. You’ve done so much for me so it’s about time I did something for you.” Kissing him was easy when his face was already so close to yours. The idea of trying to stifle your feelings for him was long gone too. You knew you had no hope and that you were already falling fast, so the only challenge left now was keeping those feelings to yourself. You couldn’t risk ruining everything.

Taron’s tongue entered your mouth and started to tease you as your kiss deepened. You felt his hand touch the bare skin of your thigh, his fingers pushing down between your legs and moving up into the crotch of your shorts. You tensed up as he applied pressure into your crotch, remembering where you were and pulling sharply away from his lips. “Not here!” You hissed quietly as you opened your legs and lifted his hand away from you. He gave you his best puppy dog eyes and pout as you left his side to get more drinks. “You’re terrible!”

“I know.” His face gave way to his laugh and you couldn’t help but chuckle back at him.

You drank your way through the early evening, skipping the support band in favour of chatting and flirting with each other. It was only as a text notification lit up Taron’s phone screen that you caught sight of the time. A quick dash across the road and into the venue meant you entered the back of the room just as the band were walking out onto the stage. You let out a loud screaming cheer and turned the heads of the men just in front of you. They parted and let you lead Taron by the hand through into the middle of the crowd.

“I’m going to get us more drinks.” Taron spoke into your ear from behind you, his hand dropping yours and feeling over your bum before he left. The loud music filled the room, the bass vibrating through the floor and into your chest. You were too drunk to care what anyone thought of you and as the first chorus hit you raised your arms in the air as you jumped around, feeding your own energy out to the people beside you and getting them moving too. A group of guys in their early 20’s were on your right hand side, also drunkenly singing along and bouncing off each other, helping to get the atmosphere going. You smiled at them and they sang back to you, opening up a space for you to join them. There was no break as the band fired straight into their second song, another old classic which wouldn’t fail to get the rest of the room dancing. The guys around you were loving it, wrapping their arms around the shoulders of their friends and spilling their drinks everywhere. You felt a hand take hold of your wrist and you shot your head round to see it was only Taron. He tugged you away from the group of guys and handed you a drink.

“Thanks.” You shouted out to him.

“I leave you alone for 5 minutes!” Taron nodded towards them.

“We were just dancing.” You looked back over your shoulder and the tallest guy winked at you. “You jealous?” You asked Taron smugly.

“Of them? No!”

“Good.” You stepped back towards them and reached one hand into the air, letting the taller guy take hold of your hand and sing along with you. Taron’s jaw was clenched but he refused to look at you, focusing on the band instead. As the second song ended you started to down your drink so you had both hands free for dancing. The guys around you started to egg you on and cheer as you reached the bottom. You passed your empty cup to one of them and as they stepped forward, lowering a hand to your waist, Taron was instantly by your side and interrupting.

“Come and watch the band.” He guided you further away from them this time.

“You are jealous!” You called back to him. “I was just having fun.”

“Yeah well you can have fun with me instead.” He looked across to the group, checking to see that they were watching before kissing you with a very open tongue action. You happily took your reward for bad behaviour, gripping hold of Taron’s arse in what you’d normally consider to be a hideous public display of affection. You left him with a seductive smile and quick brush of your palm across his crotch, letting him know he was all yours for the rest of the night.

The gig flew by and you’d sung your heart out by the end, holding Taron’s hand up in the air as the final notes of the encore echoed around the small room.

“That was so good! I fucking love that band!” You could feel yourself beaming, your body already aching from dancing so much but your heart full of happiness.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you look this happy before.” Taron’s words were starting to slur with the build-up of alcohol in his body. You’d hit your high at the start of the gig when Taron still seemed sober in comparison but now the roles had been reversed. You’d hardly describe yourself as sober though and you didn’t know how your legs were managing to keep you upright as you left the venue and stood at the side of the road deciding where to go next.

“One for the road?” You asked Taron as you slid your arm around his waist. 

“One!? We are far from done with tonight… ‘specially when you’re in such a good mood. Onwards!” Taron thrust his arm out as he pointed down the street, his drunken giggle becoming infectious.


	12. Chapter 12

It was long gone midnight when you stumbled through the door to your hotel suite. Taron reached out for your arm and turned you back to face him, an immediate kiss landing on your lips and making you smile.

“Y’know what’s great about all o’ this?” He reached a hand up to move your hair away from your face as he continued to gaze drunkenly into your eyes.

“What?” You replied as you steadied yourself against his shoulder.

“You’re my best friend, right?”

“Yeah.” You giggled as Taron asked another question instead of answering his first.

“But I can also do this.” He kissed you again more slowly this time, keeping his head resting against yours as he waited for you to respond. You savoured the moment, running your fingertips up the back of his neck and into his hair before you kissed him back. Things started to heat up as you swayed together, your tongues swirling round each other and lips messily meeting with each extension to the kiss. The taste of your final tequila shots still lingered on your tongue. You lowered a hand down towards Taron’s crotch, initially resting it on the outer side of his thigh before starting to drag your fingertips in towards his cock, but Taron pulled back. “What we have…” He paused as he pulled you with him down onto the bed. “Is something really, really great.”

“T, stop talking.” You moved yourself over his body and tried to kiss him again but he stopped you, his index finger meeting your lips instead.

“No, wait…” You waited but Taron stayed quiet, his eyes looking up to the ceiling as he thought to himself. Patience was never your strong point so you kissed his finger and watched the soft smile dance across his lips when he felt your tongue licking against him too. “What I’m tryin’ to say is that I don’t like it when you’re sad, I really think you’re amazing, in every way, and-.”

“Well I’m not sad now, so shhh.” You moved his hand to the side as you leant down to finally kiss him again.

You may have been very drunk, but you also knew drunken confessions of love were a terrible idea. Despite how much you wanted to hear those words leave Taron’s mouth you knew it would lead to a discussion the next day, and that was a conversation you desperately didn’t want to have. Instead, having his hands roam freely up and down your body as his tongue drove you wild with lust was a much better plan.

You sat up and lowered yourself further down Taron’s thighs, tugging his jeans open and then sliding the palms of your hands up and underneath his t-shirt.

“D’you think I’m an idiot?” He asked as he lay flat out on his back, looking down his torso towards you. It made you panic for a second that he’d figured out your plan to silence him.

“Why?”

“For not seeing how good we are sooner?”

“Neither of us saw it.” You replied with an inward sigh of relief.

“I should have done though because you’re amazin’, and hot.” You rolled your eyes at how loose his lips were after this much alcohol.

“Are you gonna stop talking and fuck me yet?”

“Well hello, sexy.” His eyes widened at your words and it felt like you’d finally climbed the last hurdle towards getting any action out of him. You moved off his body and gave him space to undress, starting things off by slowly pulling your t-shirt up and over your head. He did the same, his jeans following down his legs with as much haste as your shorts left yours. Everything was moving in the right direction, his warm skin touching yours in so many places as you started to kiss again. Your bodies became more entwined, your thigh resting between his, one hand caressing his lower back and arse and the other teasing over his jaw and neck. Your kiss became more desperate as Taron started to fuck you with his tongue; open mouths and breathy moans filled the room. The only thing missing was the feel of his erection pressing into your hip. You slipped your hand beneath the waistband of his boxers and started to caress his balls. Taron broke of the kiss with a smile, his eyes staying closed as you teased him.

“You like that?” You kept your voice quiet as you kissed him playfully. “Get hard for me and let me ride you.”

“I’m way too pissed.” Taron giggled back, causing you to instantly stop and groan in frustration. “Sorry, beautiful. I’ll make it up to you though.”

“You’d better.” You turned away from Taron’s body and lay on your back.

“Hey, come back ‘ere. I was still enjoying that… we can kiss and cuddle and I can tell you how brilliant you are.” He reached out and ran his hand up and down your arm.

“Just go to sleep, Taron. You’re too drunk.” As you turned over away from him you reached out and flicked the lights off, finishing what had been the perfect night with a less than perfect ending.

***

My body always refuses to sleep after a big night out or a gig. Pair the two things together and I’m guaranteed to be awake again by 5am. I don’t actually remember how we got back to the hotel last night but we’re both here in one piece. What I do remember is how incredible that gig was! I’m a big fan of exaggerating (especially catastrophes) but I’m really not exaggerating when I say that that gig is going straight to the top of my best gigs of all time. It usually takes me a little while to get into the zone and stop feeling self-conscious but last night it was instant. I know I was drunk and we bundled straight into the room with no waiting around, but still, from the first note that feeling of freedom was right there. I danced, I drank, I sang at the top of my lungs and I actually had someone there to share the moment with too. Y’know when the lyrics reference it being just the two of you and you can look to whoever you’re with and share a knowing smile, hold their hand and sing along together. I’m getting goose bumps just thinking about it. I can picture that moment between me and David so clearly. It was so special and I’ll be amazed if anything beats it for a long time to come.

We were on such a high after the gig that we stayed out and explored the LA nightlife. I wish I could fill you in on the details but it’s all just a blur. There were shots, there was definitely more dancing but the next thing I remember after that was rapidly sobering up with the fear of an incoming drunken confession of feelings from David!

You all keep messaging to say that I shouldn’t be scared, I should just go for it. You seem to think David is way more interested in me than I think, but you’re forgetting that I’m not telling you every single detail. You’re viewing this through my rose-tinted specs after everything has happened. Imagine this was Instagram instead… I’m sat here cropping out the seagull doing a shit in the corner and then selecting the filter to make the sunset colours look most vibrant. If you want a slice of honesty then I’ll let you in to a little secret. I genuinely wanted to go home yesterday afternoon. I sobbed at the end of the bed. I’m not the sort of person who gets to live this kind of life, and I can’t just walk through it blindly either. If too many good things appear at once I know for certain that something terrible will happen. My life always has worked like that, and it always will. Confessing feelings will mess this whole thing up. I just know it.

So when David was drunkenly gazing into my eyes, slurring words about as he struggled to find the well-known three he may or may not have actually been looking for, of course I was going to want to run a mile. I know how I feel and I know there’s nothing I can do to change it. But I also know that I have control over if and when I ever decide to say it out loud. David was way too pissed to have this level of control though and I couldn’t take the risk of letting him say something he’d go on to regret. So ‘what’s the best way to shut a man up?’ I hear you ask…

Sex

Well, start by kissing him at least! I think of it more as a win, win in this scenario. The perfect ending to a brilliant night AND it occupies his mouth and mind for long enough for those three words to fade into the background.

Well it would have been if someone had actually risen to the occasion!

I’m filing this one under whisky dick.

BADQ x


	13. Chapter 13

The day of the film premiere had arrived. You’d moved across to a hotel on the other side of LA, heads heavy with hangovers and bodies struggling to function. The new hotel suite was bright and clean. Fresh fruit and chilled water filled the table in the centre of the room and two racks of black tie outfits had been placed near the doors out onto your private balcony. You nursed your hangover for a while longer, watching from the end of the bed as Taron tried on the different suits that had been delivered for him. He seemed reluctant to go for the full tux, starting off with a dark grey pinstripe but eliminating it quickly when the jacket didn’t sit well across his muscular shoulders. Plain black was his next choice, classic and classy with a soft velvet trim. He seemed happy and looked back to gain your approval. It was an easy yes. You knew you had lust written all over your face when Taron started to blush and get unusually nervous around the assistants from Burberry who had come to do the fittings. He slipped the jacket off his shoulders and switched places with you, pushing you forward and into the hands of the assistants.

The first dress they pulled out for you was also black to match Taron’s suit. It had a fitted body section with sheer flowing layers which fell gracefully to the floor. Very designer. Very red carpet. Definitely not you. As they held it up, you grabbed hold of the price label, your eyes widening in shock at the digits. Taron was quick to jump up from the bed, tugging the labels from the remaining dresses on the rack.

“Price is irrelevant. I just want you to love it.”

“Taron.” You sighed. “It’s one dress, for one night, it doesn’t need to cost that much!”

“I don’t care. I want to treat you.” He persisted, sitting back down on the end of the bed and nodding for you to continue. The assistants took your lack of enthuse at the first dress as a no and continued to pull out the more daring statement dresses. You stepped passed them, your eyes drawn to the burgundy colour of a dress at the end of the rack. It was a simple and elegant dress, floor length, A-line with flowing skirt and a more open plunging neckline. You tried it on and instantly knew it was the one.

“This is it.” You smiled to Taron who was looking at you exactly how you imagined you’d been looking at him just a few minutes before.

“Absolutely gorgeous.” He complimented you before he was handed a new jacket by one of the assistants. It was in a matching burgundy colour with black velvet trim. Before you could protest at it being too much to have him match you he’d put it on and stood by your side in front of the mirrors. You giggled at how much you loved looking like a proper couple. “It’s a shame you’re not doing the red carpet with me. We’d kill them all with cuteness looking like this.”

“It’s too much, right? Stick to the black and then we’ll both look hot instead of cute.”

“You heard the boss.” Taron finalised everything and paid for your dress, also managing to get you a new pair of black heels thrown in for free.

***

Everything went to plan at the premiere. You held Taron’s hand and tried to calm his nerves in the car on the way there, only then truly seeing how much he meant it when he said he needed someone by his side. You still weren’t sure how he managed to leave those nerves behind as he stepped out to the large crowds of people, but you let out a sigh of relief as the car drove on and took you to a much quieter entrance. Half an hour later and Taron was back by your side, two buckets of popcorn in his hands and a weary smile playing at the corners of his mouth. You wrapped your arm around his waist and leant your head against his shoulder, giving him some much needed silence but comfort from your touch instead. The film was engrossing and not once did it feel like you were watching Taron on screen. You felt his eyes on you as he switched off from the movie, having seen it a few times already, you felt his hand take hold of yours, his thumb rubbing across your skin before he lifted your hand to his lips. It made you smile but you resisted looking at him, knowing full well you’d get lost in him and end up leaving early.

Taron was in demand on the way out of the cinema. Handshakes and congratulations flew in his direction as a large crowd of people gathered around you both. You felt yourself backing away from him, the noise and heat building and swarming your mind. Before things got too overwhelming you headed for the door, feeling the fresh air hit your face and stepping to one side to a quieter spot. You pulled your phone out of your clutch bag and started to scroll through Instagram, distracting you mind from the impending fear and hoping you wouldn’t draw any unwanted attention to yourself.

“There you are! Are you okay?” Taron rushed to your side, his hands instantly holding the tops of your arms as his head lowered down to pick up your eye contact.

“Yeah, just about. I’m amazed you got out of there so quickly though.”

“Well you were right with me one second and gone the next, had me panicking that something had happened.”

“Sorry. It just got too crowded.”

“No it’s ok, I should have warned you about that. Do you want to get out of here?”

“I’m alright. You should go back in though, your people need you!” You joked.

“Would you be up for one quick drink at the after party? It won’t be as crowded there and I can speak to the people I need to more easily. I promise we won’t stay long, but I should really show my face there.”

“T, I’m fine. Stop worrying.” You placed your hand to his cheek. “Go and tell them to head to the after party and I’ll find us a car.”

***

Swerving the free champagne on the way in to the next venue was a challenge. Waiters preyed on anyone with an empty hand and you swatted them away time after time, eventually spotting the bar and ordering yourself a gin and tonic to save on the headache the next morning.

“I’d like you to meet Y/N, one of my oldest and closest friends.” Taron introduced you to the couple he was chatting away with and you smiled politely as you stood by his side, mentally noting the use of the word friend. The usual small talk exchanges batted back and forth before Taron made his excuses and moved away to the next group of people. You hung back in the corner for a bit and watched on as girl after girl flirted away with him, going in for the extra greeting kiss and then touching his arm as he laughed along with them. It wasn’t that you were jealous, you’d had your fun winding Taron up at the gig after all, but you were starting to wish that he’d act more like your date and less like your brother when you were at events like these.

As he approached you again, the same weary smile of tiresome schmoozing clear on his face, you took him straight into your arms.

“You smell so good.” He whispered into your ear before quickly pulling back. “Thank you for coming with me.”

“It’s what your oldest, closest, friend is for.” You replied and got an instant raised eyebrow in response.

“You want to do this now?”

“No, I just want you to kiss me.” You rushed your words as your stomach dropped. Taron hadn’t mentioned anything about the night before so you presumed he couldn’t remember much of it, especially not how many times he tried to confess his feelings to you. But clearly that wasn’t the case. Either way he was chuckling to himself at your reply.

“Good, because I don’t have to be prepared for that.” He moved in and placed his lips to yours in a tender kiss, his hand cupping your face as he pulled away before kissing you again. “You look so beautiful tonight. I can’t wait to make up for last night’s mess.” He smiled sheepishly before his publicist placed her hand to his shoulder and pulled him to one side to have a quiet word.

Looking out across the room full of celebrities, guests and photographers it was mad to think that you could get such a sweet and private moment with Taron when everyone else there also wanted some time with him. What was crazier were the nerves buzzing around your stomach at the thought of Taron taking things to the next level.


	14. Chapter 14

“You good to go?” Taron asked as he picked up your clutch bag from the table and passed it over to you.

“Yes, if you’re sure you’ve spoken to everyone you need to.” You’d only been at the after party for 45 minutes, but you also weren’t going to complain at Taron’s haste.

“Yeah, it’s fine. My head’s not really in the right place for small talk tonight anyway. Come on.” He walked on ahead of you with pace and cast a few hellos to people as he passed them on the way to the main doors of the venue.

“T, wait up.” You reached out for his shoulder and he spun around, moving across to a quieter place next to the doors and taking hold of your hand. “Is everything ok?” He didn’t say anything immediately, just looked deeply into your eyes and subconsciously licked across his lips.

“I can’t stop thinking about you… you look incredible tonight.” He had you blushing and looking down at your feet but he squeezed your hand gently in encouragement, wanting you to lift your gaze from the floor and back to his face. “Y/N.” His voice was quiet but you couldn’t fail to hear him when he rest his forehead against yours. Finally you lifted your eyes to his and felt the light breathy giggle that came with his smile. Neither of you needed to say anything in that moment. His lips met yours and you skimmed your tongue across his, being quickly rewarded with his opening mouth. Everyone faded into the background as you started to lose yourself to Taron’s kiss. You inched your body closer to his, holding your hand to the back of his neck and tilting your head to the side to give your tongue the best angle to tease with. It was slow and meaningful, everything the last night failed at. Taron pulled back quicker than you’d have liked, stepping back from you but keeping hold of your hand. “There’s a car out the front for us. Get in and it’ll come round to the back for me. I don’t want to be seen leaving so early but I can’t resist you any longer.” He kissed you again before walking off back into the main venue.

You cast a very warm smile to the photographers who were waiting outside the venue, their lenses down to the ground as they waited for the celebrities who’d had one too many to drink. One of the men called out asking if you’d had a nice evening and for once you felt confident enough to reply.

“It’s been lovely, thank you.”

“Heading anywhere nice?”

“Just back to the hotel.” It was a short interaction as the car pulled up and offered you some much needed comfort from your new heels, but you were surprised with how polite they were. They always get such a negative stereotype.

***

I’ve got 5 minutes to myself whilst I’m waiting for David so I’m just dropping by to say that I think tonight is the night. We’re in as close to a classic date setting as is possible (fancy as fuck clothes and everything!) and I was initially worried that things weren’t going in the right direction so I called him up on it, in the sort of ‘hey what are you playing at?’ jokey way. His response:

You really want to do this now?

I of course panicked, immediately backtracked and said no, just kiss me. (IDIOT). But he then went on to add:

Good, because I don’t have to be prepared for that.

Prepared?! Prepared as in… big romantic surprise on the way, or prepared as in, how the fuck do I let her down gently? Freaking. Out.

Old me would have plumped for the latter, no questions asked. But we had another moment. A silent gazing followed by slow making out kind of moment. Which leads me right up to now. We’re cutting the night short so he can make up for Whisky Dick.

(insert all the wet aubergine emoji’s here)

BADQ x

***

His hand rested gently on your thigh, his thumb rubbing back and forth over the soft, smooth material of your floor length dress as you made the short journey back to the new hotel you’d been put up in for the night.

“I just want you to know how brilliantly I think you’ve handled everything tonight. I know it’s not easy and you’d rather avoid it completely, but it means so much to me to have you there.”

“I’m pleased I could be there with you. I really get why you don’t want to do it on your own too.” You lifted Taron’s fingers from your thigh and locked yours through with his. “I get to see you looking all handsome in your suit too.” You flirted back to him.

“Is it really as much of a turn on as women claim? I mean suits aren’t that different from each other, but there’s literally thousands of different dresses for us to admire you in.”

“Why change perfection?” You leant across the back seat and waited for Taron to move in and receive the kiss you had on offer. He left you waiting. The look of mischief in his eyes said he knew exactly what he was doing. Just as you were about to retract your offer he inched himself closer to your face, his eyes staying open until the very last second before his lips touched yours. Every kiss of his ignited the butterflies in your stomach now and you just couldn’t get enough. Light touches of lips and licks of tongues played back and forth as you kissed slowly in the back of the car.

The sight of two fresh pillow chocolates at the top of your new bed had you giggling to yourself as you walked into your room ahead of Taron.

“Fancy a taste test?” You released his hand from yours and reached over to unwrap one of the chocolates, holding it between your teeth and turning back so Taron could take a bite from the other half. He slid the straps of your dress down off your shoulders as he bit through the chocolate and savoured the sweet taste on his tongue.

“It’s not my favourite taste in the world.”

“What do you prefer?” You slid the rest of your dress down off your hips and let it pool to the floor at your feet, only your thong and heels remaining in place. Taron’s hands strayed from your shoulders down over your breasts, caressing them slowly with his palms and letting the feel of your nipples turn him on.

“I might have to get back to you on that one, it could well be something I’m yet to taste.” You slid his jacket from his shoulders and tugged his tie loose from his neck, letting him pull it open and release the top buttons of his white shirt. The sight of him before you, eyes wide with lust, mouth moist and outfit perfectly dishevelled was so hot. You pressed your naked chest into him as you kissed him again but he took a firm grip of your waist and pushed you back to lie down on the side of the bed. His hands ran down your thighs as he sank to his knees, spreading your legs wider than his shoulders and tugging you forwards so you could feel his warm breath against your wet and ready skin. With tensed abs you propped yourself up so you could see him waiting between your thighs, admiring his view and slowly pulling your thong to one side so he could make his first move. His fingers felt cold against your skin, their slow movements already having a strong effect on the glorious feeling coming from your core.

“Don’t hold back, this isn’t going to take long.” You lowered your back down against the bed as you let Taron take control, his tongue fitting around your clit and engulfing every part of it at once. Fast licks and flicks burned over you, the heat searing through your body and making you tingle. “Oh god.” You moaned in delight, hoping you could hold on for as long as possible. Taron was not holding back at all, his hands rubbing over your inner thighs and thumbs caressing your inner folds as he held them apart and let his tongue do the talking. Longer licks with more pressure continued over your clit, each one making your thighs shudder beside him. Your shoulders and back were tensed, head fallen to one side with your eyes tightly closed as you struggled to hold on. Moan after moan filled the room. Everything seemed to slow down as you focused entirely on the feel of Taron’s mouth against you. Lick after lick drove you wild, his pace increasing and ramping up the pleasure that burned away inside you. Pulsing waves shot round your body as you lost it, your hips jolting, muscles clenching and voice crying out in pleasure. It was so satisfying.

You slipped your heels from your feet as you took a moment to recover before pulling yourself further onto the bed and discarding your thong from your hips in preparation of what was to follow.

“That made up for last night?” Taron asked as he started to undress himself at the end of the bed, watching your eyes take in every inch of his skin as he revealed it for you.

“More than made up for it, that felt amazing. I’m telling you now though, you never, ever, need an excuse or reason for doing that to me again.” Taron smirked at you.

“Well it felt and tasted pretty good from where I was too.”

“So what next?” A teasing bite to your lower lip as you pulled your knees up off the bed had Taron fixated on you.

“I just wanna get lost in you, all, fucking, night.” He crawled up the bed towards you and lowered his naked body to yours. His words were seductive, his body clearly ready for you but every move he made was slow and deliberate, as if he was showing you his feelings rather than saying them out loud. Kiss after kiss fell against your skin, nuzzling and caressing your whole body as if he’d never felt any of it before. It was so different from the cheeky Taron you knew. He was breath taking.


	15. Chapter 15

A fresh breeze blew in through the open doors and the early morning sunlight reflected back off the bright white walls of your beach front villa. You blinked a few times as you woke up slowly, trying to focus on Taron who was sat out on the terrace reading his book. It felt way too early to be up yet so you reached across for your phone to check the time but the battery had died overnight.

“T!” You called out sleepily. “What time is it?”

“Half seven.” He replied as he stood up and moved back inside, watching you closely as you stretched your arms up above your head.

“How long have you been awake for?”

“A while, I saw the sun rise.” He leant down to kiss you good morning.

“Aww, you should have woken me for it.”

“You looked way too peaceful, I wasn’t going to wake you. Maybe I will tomorrow if the jet lag is still lingering… I’ve hired us a car for tomorrow actually. Thought we could go for a drive down the coast and see what we find.”

“Sounds good, provided we make it through today’s surfing lesson in one piece!” You turned onto your side and reached out to touch soft skin of Taron’s hip just above his swimming shorts, temptation getting the better of you.

“We’ll be fine! It’s going to be great fun so get your cute arse in a bikini and we can grab some breakfast before it starts.” Taron reached out in return and lightly slapped your bare bum cheek, clearly feeling more himself today.

***

There was an anxious buzz deep in your stomach as you made your way down to the surf school beach hut. It reminded you of your first driving lesson. A mix of excitement and terror at the same time. There was a definite fear that came with the potential failure of not being able to pick up a new skill quickly. You weren’t really sure how today was going to go but there was only one way to find out.

“Shit. They have sharks in Australia.” You whispered to Taron before stopping in your tracks and staring ahead at the painted image on the side of the beach hut.

“Have you only just figured that out?” He turned back to you and laughed loudly.

“No! I’m not an idiot… I just temporarily forgot that today would involve going for a dip in their kitchen!” Taron continued to smile and shake his head at you. “What?!”

“You’ve got such a way with words. I love it… We’re not going to get eaten for breakfast though so come on!” He walked on ahead and introduced himself to the two surf instructors, leaving you to replace the breath you lost when Taron almost said what you’d been waiting to hear for the past 48 hours.

There were only 8 of you in the surf school and the beach was still nice and quiet. With the introductions out the way you were handed a wetsuit to put on. Taron was hopping about on one leg beside you as he struggled to get his foot through the end of the shorts, receiving many laughs from the rest of the group. You stepped in beside him and let him steady himself against your shoulder as you rolled your eyes to everyone else.

“Always has to be the centre of attention.”

“I’d like to see you do better.” He replied as he yanked the tight material up over his thighs and let the top half hang loose around his hips. With the challenge set you plunged your foot down through the first leg and got the second in smoothly after, pulling it up to your chest before struggling to get your arms through the short sleeves. Taron helped you out and zipped up the back before deliberately looking you up and down as you turned back to face him. “It’s a good job I’ve seen it all before because these wetsuits leave very little to the imagination.”

“Do I need to chuck a load of beer and shots down your neck to keep the little guy under control or can you manage?”

“Less of the little, please!” He pulled the rest of his wetsuit on and let you zip up the back. “You up for another challenge?”

“Like this isn’t going to be challenging enough!” Taron turned back around and had the glint in his eye that you recognised all too well. He moved in close to you and spoke quietly so no one else could hear him.

“First one to stand up on the board for at least 5 seconds has the other one go down on them tonight.”

“Oh,” You paused to bite your lip at him “Looks like this just got competitive!”

“Reward worth having, right?” He raised his eyebrows back to you as he got passed a surfboard.

The lesson started slowly, working through the basics on the beach and practicing the technique. If Taron hadn’t set the challenge you were sure you’d have switched off by now. Trial and error was more your style, just get on with it and ask the questions about technique once you’d fallen off too many times. But not today. You were focused and listening hard, doing your best to ignore Taron’s attempts to make you giggle, or the sand he mischievously flicked towards your board. He was bound to be a natural at surfing and he definitely had all the muscle strength needed but after experiencing his tongue lapping against you back in LA you definitely had the determination needed to win.

The sea was surprisingly warm as you ran into it and jumped up onto your board, paddling away to get out to the best waves. One by one you were instructed to take a wave as it came, starting with the people furthest away from you and Taron. Some people chickened out and waited for the next one, others gave it their best shot and went crashing down into the water just as quickly as they’d tried to stand up. Before long it was Taron’s turn and you cheered him on as he paddled ahead of the wave and looked back over his shoulder, he tried to spring into a crouch but tipped straight off the side of the board and disappeared beneath the wave. The giggle that followed as he resurfaced matched yours and now you were left with nowhere to hide.

“Ahhhh,” You cried out nervously as you let the next wave go through.

“Go on! You’ve got this Y/N.” Taron called back as he started to paddle his way back out to sea. “Take this one!” You glanced over your shoulder and paddled furiously back to shore as the wave started to catch you up. Soon enough you were being taken with it and a rush of adrenaline hit your legs, pulling you up into a crouching position on your board and keeping your fears at bay. It felt like you had it, your balance secure, mind focused and heart pounding against your chest but soon enough you were tipped to the side and thrown down into the sea.

“I thought I had it then!” You called out to Taron who was sat waiting on his board back out at sea.

“You were close… but the bet still stands!” He picked up his next wave and started to head towards you in the shallow water. Holding his crouching position for longer this time with his arms outstretched and keeping him balanced, he lifted himself higher up and rode along the crest of the wave like an absolute natural. As he started to lose momentum he bailed off his board and splashed down into the sea. “It’s just beginners luck.” He flicked the dripping water out from his hair as he walked through the breaking waves towards you.

“I should have known better than to take you on at something physical.” You folded your arms across your chest, disappointed that you only had one chance of beating him.

“Hey, you very nearly had me there. You’ll get it next time, I’m sure of it.” The gentle smile that played across his lips and the soft kiss that followed his words helped to drain away your disappointment. Even with the bet now lost you had the rest of the day with Taron by your side and you were still determined to show him up at least once.

“If I do get it next time you’re buying me cocktails all night.”

“As long as I still get my end of the deal, you’re on.”

“Oh you’ll get your end away, alright. Don’t you worry!” You ran further out to sea before jumping onto your board and paddling quickly away from Taron, knowing full well he would be hot on your heels after that comment.


	16. Chapter 16

A fresh breeze blew in through the open doors and the early morning sunlight reflected back off the bright white walls of your beach front villa. You blinked a few times as you woke up slowly, trying to focus on Taron who was sat out on the terrace reading his book. It felt way too early to be up yet so you reached across for your phone to check the time but the battery had died overnight.

“T!” You called out sleepily. “What time is it?”

“Half seven.” He replied as he stood up and moved back inside, watching you closely as you stretched your arms up above your head.

“How long have you been awake for?”

“A while, I saw the sun rise.” He leant down to kiss you good morning.

“Aww, you should have woken me for it.”

“You looked way too peaceful, I wasn’t going to wake you. Maybe I will tomorrow if the jet lag is still lingering… I’ve hired us a car for tomorrow actually. Thought we could go for a drive down the coast and see what we find.”

“Sounds good, provided we make it through today’s surfing lesson in one piece!” You turned onto your side and reached out to touch soft skin of Taron’s hip just above his swimming shorts, temptation getting the better of you.

“We’ll be fine! It’s going to be great fun so get your cute arse in a bikini and we can grab some breakfast before it starts.” Taron reached out in return and lightly slapped your bare bum cheek, clearly feeling more himself today.

***

There was an anxious buzz deep in your stomach as you made your way down to the surf school beach hut. It reminded you of your first driving lesson. A mix of excitement and terror at the same time. There was a definite fear that came with the potential failure of not being able to pick up a new skill quickly. You weren’t really sure how today was going to go but there was only one way to find out.

“Shit. They have sharks in Australia.” You whispered to Taron before stopping in your tracks and staring ahead at the painted image on the side of the beach hut.

“Have you only just figured that out?” He turned back to you and laughed loudly.

“No! I’m not an idiot… I just temporarily forgot that today would involve going for a dip in their kitchen!” Taron continued to smile and shake his head at you. “What?!”

“You’ve got such a way with words. I love it… We’re not going to get eaten for breakfast though so come on!” He walked on ahead and introduced himself to the two surf instructors, leaving you to replace the breath you lost when Taron almost said what you’d been waiting to hear for the past 48 hours.

There were only 8 of you in the surf school and the beach was still nice and quiet. With the introductions out the way you were handed a wetsuit to put on. Taron was hopping about on one leg beside you as he struggled to get his foot through the end of the shorts, receiving many laughs from the rest of the group. You stepped in beside him and let him steady himself against your shoulder as you rolled your eyes to everyone else.

“Always has to be the centre of attention.”

“I’d like to see you do better.” He replied as he yanked the tight material up over his thighs and let the top half hang loose around his hips. With the challenge set you plunged your foot down through the first leg and got the second in smoothly after, pulling it up to your chest before struggling to get your arms through the short sleeves. Taron helped you out and zipped up the back before deliberately looking you up and down as you turned back to face him. “It’s a good job I’ve seen it all before because these wetsuits leave very little to the imagination.”

“Do I need to chuck a load of beer and shots down your neck to keep the little guy under control or can you manage?”

“Less of the little, please!” He pulled the rest of his wetsuit on and let you zip up the back. “You up for another challenge?”

“Like this isn’t going to be challenging enough!” Taron turned back around and had the glint in his eye that you recognised all too well. He moved in close to you and spoke quietly so no one else could hear him.

“First one to stand up on the board for at least 5 seconds has the other one go down on them tonight.”

“Oh,” You paused to bite your lip at him “Looks like this just got competitive!”

“Reward worth having, right?” He raised his eyebrows back to you as he got passed a surfboard.

The lesson started slowly, working through the basics on the beach and practicing the technique. If Taron hadn’t set the challenge you were sure you’d have switched off by now. Trial and error was more your style, just get on with it and ask the questions about technique once you’d fallen off too many times. But not today. You were focused and listening hard, doing your best to ignore Taron’s attempts to make you giggle, or the sand he mischievously flicked towards your board. He was bound to be a natural at surfing and he definitely had all the muscle strength needed but after experiencing his tongue lapping against you back in LA you definitely had the determination needed to win.

The sea was surprisingly warm as you ran into it and jumped up onto your board, paddling away to get out to the best waves. One by one you were instructed to take a wave as it came, starting with the people furthest away from you and Taron. Some people chickened out and waited for the next one, others gave it their best shot and went crashing down into the water just as quickly as they’d tried to stand up. Before long it was Taron’s turn and you cheered him on as he paddled ahead of the wave and looked back over his shoulder, he tried to spring into a crouch but tipped straight off the side of the board and disappeared beneath the wave. The giggle that followed as he resurfaced matched yours and now you were left with nowhere to hide.

“Ahhhh,” You cried out nervously as you let the next wave go through.

“Go on! You’ve got this Y/N.” Taron called back as he started to paddle his way back out to sea. “Take this one!” You glanced over your shoulder and paddled furiously back to shore as the wave started to catch you up. Soon enough you were being taken with it and a rush of adrenaline hit your legs, pulling you up into a crouching position on your board and keeping your fears at bay. It felt like you had it, your balance secure, mind focused and heart pounding against your chest but soon enough you were tipped to the side and thrown down into the sea.

“I thought I had it then!” You called out to Taron who was sat waiting on his board back out at sea.

“You were close… but the bet still stands!” He picked up his next wave and started to head towards you in the shallow water. Holding his crouching position for longer this time with his arms outstretched and keeping him balanced, he lifted himself higher up and rode along the crest of the wave like an absolute natural. As he started to lose momentum he bailed off his board and splashed down into the sea. “It’s just beginners luck.” He flicked the dripping water out from his hair as he walked through the breaking waves towards you.

“I should have known better than to take you on at something physical.” You folded your arms across your chest, disappointed that you only had one chance of beating him.

“Hey, you very nearly had me there. You’ll get it next time, I’m sure of it.” The gentle smile that played across his lips and the soft kiss that followed his words helped to drain away your disappointment. Even with the bet now lost you had the rest of the day with Taron by your side and you were still determined to show him up at least once.

“If I do get it next time you’re buying me cocktails all night.”

“As long as I still get my end of the deal, you’re on.”

“Oh you’ll get your end away, alright. Don’t you worry!” You ran further out to sea before jumping onto your board and paddling quickly away from Taron, knowing full well he would be hot on your heels after that comment.


	17. Chapter 17

Surfing, cocktails and jet lag were a lethal combination. Taron had stuck to his word and ordered you both Sex on the Beach cocktails that night, doing his best to kick off the evening on the right foot. You’d had dinner in the hotel restaurant and then moved out to the bar which overlooked the pool and hotel grounds. It felt like your first holiday together, and even though you’d spent so much time with Taron recently there was a different feeling that came with him being away from work. You could tell that he was more relaxed. He was never as conscious about how tactile he was with you and as you sat with him now he without a doubt felt like your boyfriend. You’d not put a label on what you were, in fact the last time you’d needed one you were still known as his oldest and closest friend. The wait for him to make the next move was wearing thin and despite your initial fears about what your relationship with him would become, you were now past the point of caring and felt more than ready to take matters into your own hands.

“I’ve really enjoyed today.” You sipped your cocktail and relaxed back in your chair as you drew Taron’s gaze away from the sea.

“Me too. Surfing was a good choice.” He crossed his leg over his knee as he also sat back and relaxed with his drink.

“It was, but we’d have made anything fun. I’m loving getting to spend so much time with you.”

“I’m loving seeing you so happy.” Taron smiled back to you and you could see the happiness in his eyes. “Genuinely, to look back at how you were when you were sat on the end of my bed in Aber… and then see the smile you had on your face all day today. It’s still right there.” He reached out and softly touched your cheek. “You’re like a different person.”

“It’s all down to you.” You felt yourself blushing under his touch.

“It’s not.” He shook his head. “It’s as much you as it is me. Just because I opened the door, didn’t mean you had to walk through it. You chose to do it, Y/N and I’m so pleased you did.”

“You made it easy… you’ve got a hard face to say no to.” Taron laughed gently and then covered his yawn with his hand. “Someone’s looking sleepy.” You reached out and caressed the skin of his lower thigh.

“Sorry, I’m knackered. Do you mind if we head back?”

“Not at all.” You finished the rest of your drink and stood up from the table, deciding that you’d ask the question when you got back to the villa instead. “You’ve still got a winning bet to claim.” Taron took hold of your outstretched hand and let you guide him down the path.

“Can I save my winnings for tomorrow? I think I’m going to be out as soon as my head hits the pillow tonight.” Taron let go of your hand to shield another yawn before his arm moved back to rest around your shoulders and pull you in closer to his side.

“Cash it in whenever you like, it’s not like I’m going anywhere anytime soon.”

“Good. I can’t believe I did so many months of this on my own… the thought of going back to that, it would be so shit.” Taron paused in the doorway to the villa with the key in his hand. “Hugh always said it was way easier when his family could travel with him or even just his wife, and I really get it now. It shifts your focus. Makes it easier to switch off from the job.”

“Hopefully there’s more to it than me just being a distraction from your job though…” You followed Taron into the villa and switched on the lights as he made a beeline straight for the bed, stripping to his boxers and collapsing down on his back with a sigh.

“What do you mean?” He mumbled in confusion as he let his eyes close.

“I mean… hopefully there’s more to us than just being friends… or friends with benefits.” All the confidence you had earlier started to drain from your body as the fear of saying anything more out loud hit your stomach. You crouched down and started to rummage through a suitcase in search of your phone charger, acting busy as Taron’s silence lingered on. “Have you seen my charger in here anywhere?” You asked through your nerves as you desperately tried to fill the awkward silence that encompassed the room. There was a faint murmur of noise from Taron and the sound of him moving about on the bed had you looking back over your shoulder at him. His eyes were still closed, a hand rested peacefully below his cheek and he’d drawn his knees higher up the bed as he’d fallen asleep. “What I really wanted to say was I love you, you idiot.” You said quietly to yourself, once again accepting that tonight wasn’t going to be the night either.

***

Taron’s hands gripped your bare waist and lifted you up to sit on the bonnet of the white open topped Jeep that he’d hired for your day of exploring. He stepped back and took a photo of you as you posed in your high waisted denim shorts, cropped t-shirt and cat eye sunglasses.

“Now if that doesn’t end up on your blog I’ll be disappointed! Got to show off my photography skills to the world.”

“I’ll need to steal your phone charger before that can happen. I swear Jane never packed mine and it’s still plugged in at the hotel in Beverly Hills!” You replied as you jumped down from the front of the car and climbed into the passenger seat instead.

“When she’s organised she’s great, but she’s useless in a crisis. So how is the blogging going? I meant to ask before but there’s been a lot going on.” Taron set off on the open road, heading south down the coast towards Byron Bay.

“Yeah, good I think. It’s not really headed down the path I expected it to but plenty of people seem to like it.”

“Where did you expect it to go?”

“I guess I thought it would be more like a travel blog. Reviewing hotels, restaurants, nice tourist spots… but it’s sort of turned into more of a personal journey.” You cringed back at your use of the word journey.

“Don’t say it like it’s a bad thing! It means your blog isn’t generic. People get sick of reading the same old stuff and with your personality behind it, it always was going to be popular. I knew that from the first post you let me read.”

“Never doubted me, did you?”

“Not even a little bit.” Taron took his eyes off the road and looked across at you through his sunglasses with a smile.

“Smug.” You laughed. “I’ve not posted anything up there for a while, they probably all think it’s me who’s dead, not my phone battery!”

“Just borrow my phone. Post the photo I took and let them know you’ve changed continents but you’re still very much alive and well.” Taron unlocked his phone and passed it over to you before turning the volume up on the radio as one of his favourite songs started. You reached his phone out the side of the car and recorded a short video of the two of you singing along and laughing away together, capturing another fun moment of your little adventure before you got down to writing the next blog post.

***

Fear not. I am alive and well. Sans phone for now due to my charger being 7,000 miles away in LA (I’ve borrowed David’s phone to post this.), so don’t expect any regular updates. I’ve just caught sight of my last post and I hate to be the bearer of bad news but that night was not the night. So anyone who thought my sudden silence was down to a life of romantic bliss, put your party hats away. We are literally no further forward despite the literal time difference between LA and Australia. That’s right, I’m down under. Literally and metaphorically. David ventured down under on The Night That Never Was and ohmydays. That man. I do owe him now though, thanks to a lost bet…

We spent the day surfing yesterday which was amazing. I should have known better than to accept his challenge though. Whoever managed to successfully stand up on the board first has the other one go down on them. I thought I had a chance. I’d already had a taste of the reward (or more like David had had a taste!) so I knew it was worth fighting for. But that man’s skills know no bounds and I didn’t even get a look in. The bastard!

Competitiveness aside we’ve been having a lot of fun. Australia is beautiful and so peaceful compared to LA. We have a gorgeous beach front villa where we can watch the sun rise each morning and right now we’re driving down the coast towards Byron Bay in an open top White Jeep. David has insisted I post this photo to show off his photography skills – humour him.

I keep trying to find or make the right kind of moment to talk to David about what all of this means, what we are, what we have, how we feel. But it seems like the harder I try the more things get in the way. Maybe it’s the world’s way of telling me to stop pushing. Maybe someone, somewhere, knows that my earlier fears were to be believed and that making this official, labelling it, and telling David how I feel is a really bad move.

Maybe. Maybe not.

I’m not going to push it today though. I’m just going to enjoy having the man I love by my side and make the most of the Australian sunshine.

BADQ x


	18. Chapter 18

“Are we there yet?” You called out childishly having been on the road for what felt like hours.

“I don’t know, you’re the one with my phone which has the map on!” Taron replied as he continued to drive down the coast. You zoomed the map in and discovered that you were just over half way to Byron Bay.

“Honestly, it’s going to be like another 4 hours before we get there.” You moaned.

“What!” Taron pulled over to the side of the road and stopped to take a look for himself. “It said it was just over an hour away when I looked this morning, what are you on about?” He took his phone back and shook his head at you. “We’ve got 20 minutes to go! I’m heading to the north beach as it’s meant to be quieter and there’s a short cut just up here too.” He dropped his phone back in your lap before taking the next unsigned left turn and driving down a narrow road which was heading back towards the sea. Soon enough the tarmac turned into gravel and as much as you wanted to trust that Taron knew where he was going, it felt more and more like you were heading into the middle of nowhere. The 4X4 Taron had hired came in useful as the track narrowed again and got bumpier by the second. Luckily nothing was coming the other way and you continued down the track until it opened out into a small turning area which had 2 cars parked at the edge.

“Is this it?” You asked as Taron pulled up next to the other cars.

“I think so. Told you it was quiet! We’re going to have most of the beach to ourselves looking at this.” With your beach bag and towel in hand you set off down the short path that cut through a few sand dunes before being faced with a sign which read: Attention nude bathers beyond this point. Swimsuits optional.

“T! Did you know this was a nudist beach?” You put your bag down, turned back to face him and saw the equal look of shock on his face as he held his hands up in defence

“I promise you now I didn’t know. Come on we can go back to the car and go somewhere else.” He started to turn away but did a double take as you pulled your cropped t-shirt up over your head and then untied your bikini top.

“When in Rome.” You commented as you bundled your discarded clothes into your bag.

“Erm, who are you and what have you done with Y/N?” Taron asked with a face still full of shock as you now stood topless before him. It was a brave move but this trip had definitely taught you that life’s more fun if you take a few risks along the way. Taron had encouraged you into every new situation you’d faced so far so it was about time the roles were reversed.

“Come on, there’s no one here. I just want to enjoy the beach and now I get the added bonus of no tan lines too!”

“You’re constantly surprising me at the moment! I’m still not sure about this though… we all saw what happened when Orlando went paddle boarding and I’m definitely not about to steal his thunder!”

“Well that’s not going to happen, no one knows you’re here and there’s literally no one else on the beach.” You turned back around and took in the deserted view out to sea before spotting a man further down the beach. “Well only that guy miles away over there, but it looks like he’s naked too. Not exactly got anywhere to hide a long lens camera has he!” You laughed.

“God, you’re not giving up on this one are you?”

“That’ll teach you to encourage me to go skinny dipping!” You stepped forward and left a teasing kiss to Taron’s lips.

“Fine.” He sighed in defeat before pulling his tank top over his head as you dropped your shorts down to the sand and let your bikini bottoms follow after. You picked up Taron’s swimming shorts from the end of his foot and held them proudly over your shoulder as you walked off ahead of him down onto the beach.

The tide was out leaving a wide stretch of golden sand for you to select the perfect spot from. You walked down to the gently breaking waves and took a stroll through the shallow water, heading in the opposite direction to the man you’d seen earlier. If it wasn’t for Taron walking naked by your side you’d have forgotten you were on a nude beach. With nothing else around but the sun, sea and sand you felt totally at ease and ready to completely relax for a few hours. When Taron was happy that you were far enough away from the path down to the beach you lay down your towels and got comfy, lying on your front as you pulled your book from your bag and picked up where you’d left the story on the flight to Australia. You’d got two sentences in to the next chapter when you felt Taron’s cool hands running smoothly over your back and the tops of your shoulders.

“Mmm, that’s nice.” You dropped your head down to your arm in appreciation of Taron’s massage.

“Got to make applying sunscreen that bit more pleasurable, and I get to do your bum today.” He squirted out more of the cool lotion to your lower back before his hands caressed your cheeks over and over, dragging the lotion down the backs of your thighs too.

“Bet you can’t wait to do my front.” You teased, loving the idea of his hands doing the same to your chest.

“As long as you do mine after… actually I’ve still got my reward to claim.” You could hear the change in his tone of voice.

“Here?!” You sat up as Taron’s hands left your body.

“You said whenever I want… can’t strip off in front of me like that and not expect me to get turned on.” You lowered your sunglasses down the bridge of your nose as you looked down to Taron’s crotch to see his semi growing by the second.

“Can I let you in on a secret?… the idea of nude beaches has always turned me on, especially because the guys have nowhere to hide.”

“Oh really?” Taron lay on his side and made no attempt to hide his erection from you. “Living out a little fantasy then…”

“Mmm.” You hummed in agreement as you lay the opposite way round and guided Taron’s tip into your mouth with your hand. Gentle sucks around him slowly teased him and you lifted your sunglasses to the top of your head to make sure Taron could see you watching his face as you continued. He reached out to caress your arse in encouragement as you engulfed him and took him deeper. As you pulled back to swallow you let your hand pump over him a few times and received his first words of satisfaction.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this right here. This is so hot.” You dragged your tongue from the base of his shaft all the way to the tip before taking him again, working yourself around him and against him faster this time. With one hand teasing his lower half you swirled your tongue around his head. “Fuck, that feels good.” Taron sighed.

“You’re lasting well.” You commented as you pulled off him and and started to lick around him again.

“I keep thinking someone’s going to walk by.”

“Relax, even if someone does they’ll only be jealous.” You ran a hand slowly up Taron’s torso as you took him deeper over and over, finally starting to taste him as he hit the back of your throat.

“Jealous because I’ve got the best girl in the world.” Taron finished with a deep moan as you switched back to shorter movements. The hand which has been caressing your bum delved deeper towards your core and you opened your legs for him, feeling his fingers parting your folds and reaching up towards your clit. The feel of him touching your most sensitive part was all the encouragement you needed to finish him off. You upped your pace over his head again and pumped the rest of his shaft, never letting up as he shot his load into your mouth and moaned with pleasure. Having swallowed him down you turned onto your back and relaxed, waiting to see if his fingers would continue to tease you once he’d recovered.

It took him a minute but soon enough he was moving down the towel to lay next to you again, sliding his hand over your leg and up into your centre as he leant in to kiss you. With a heavy pressure he massaged your clit with two fingers as his tongue lapped up the taste of himself in your mouth. You couldn’t focus on where you were, only what Taron was doing to you as his fingers lowered between your legs and delved inside you. This was so far from how you imagined your day to go, but so overdue considering the previous nights of jetlagged exhaustion. You were desperate for Taron to continue, lifting your leg to let him feel deeper inside you. Trying to continue his kiss was difficult when the pleasure from your core was taking over your body. You lifted your hips instinctively as Taron’s thumb started to press against your clit again.

“Fuck.” You sighed, leaving your mouth open and jaw tensed as you looked up into Taron’s eyes. “Don’t stop.”

“I’m not going to.” He kissed your open mouth as he started to finger you harder, responding to each of your panting breaths and waiting to hear the high pitched moan he knew he could bring from you. As he forced his fingers wider inside you, you started to lose it.

“Taron. Shit.” You breathed heavily again before crying out as your orgasm shot round your body. Every single time he made you cry out in pleasure, the feelings too good to hold back, but there was always a part of you that died of embarrassment because of it.

“Shhhhh.” He giggled from above you before kissing your forehead. “I’m never going to tire of that sound.”

“Dickhead.” You pushed your palm up into his chest as the blush crept onto your cheeks.

“Don’t be like that. I love it.” Your head turned immediately back to look at Taron, those three words sitting perfectly on the tip of your tongue. The way he looked back at you was as if he had the exact same thought but yet the silence lingered on. Neither of you dare move, or barely breathe, just waiting for the other one to crack first.

“I think we should go for a swim to cool off.” Taron finally broke the silence as he stood up beside you and offered out his hand for you to take.

“Good idea.”


	19. Chapter 19

The beach had been the perfect ending to your short time on the Gold Coast of Australia. You’d finished your book, soaked up the sunshine and admired the very naked view of Taron lying next to you for a few hours. Back at the hotel after dinner you’d reorganised your suitcases, certain that your phone charger was nowhere to be seen but not too bothered because you could pick up a new one in Sydney when you had another day to yourself. It was a nice quick evening flight this time which gave you chance to plan out what you wanted to see and do in the days ahead. With Taron down for more press, tv and radio shows you’d be back to seeing him in the evenings so you’d picked out a couple of nice restaurants you wanted to visit. Everything was feeling much less daunting now and as you settled in to your new hotel suite for the night there was no hesitation at all when it came to testing out the bed. You straddled yourself over Taron and he was very quickly up for round 2 now the jetlag was long gone.

The next morning you got up bright and early with Taron, taking the same car into the centre of Sydney and then leaving him at the TV studio’s so you could take a walk across the Harbour Bridge and get a good view of the Opera House before jumping on a bus and heading across to the zoo for the afternoon. Being a tourist by yourself didn’t feel so strange this time around. You weren’t as self-conscious about being on your own, you felt way more confident now and you knew at the end of the day you’d be able to share the funny things you’d seen with Taron over dinner. You’d be the one who was there to take his mind off everything and make sure he was happy, repaying him for everything he’d done for you so far. It would mean you could get your blog back on track again too, focus more on the places, the food, the atmosphere and less on what was or wasn’t happening between you and Taron. The moment you had on the beach where you were certain either one of you could have said it had filled you with confidence. It would only be a matter of time and maybe a posh meal in a new city was the moment Taron was secretly waiting for.

Whilst you were off watching the animals in the zoo Taron had moved on to his afternoon of radio interviews. He’d had a couple to do over the phone whilst he waited to go live on air, spewing out the same spiel about his latest film and playing the odd game along the way. Soon enough he was taken through to the main studio and directed into a seat on the opposite side of the desk to the radio presenters, Kate, Tim and Marty.

“Our special guest for the afternoon has just arrived with us, please give a very warm welcome to the one and only Taron Egerton!” The fake applause was played out into Taron’s headphones as he moved the microphone in front of him to the side slightly.

“Hello!” He replied cheerfully.

“Lovely for you to drop in and see us today.” Tim added.

“Thanks for inviting me down here, always nice to spend some time in Sydney.”

“Have you just landed today? We know it was the premiere in LA a couple of days ago so are you still on LA time or have you had a couple of days to adjust?” Kate fired out the first questions quickly.

“No, no. I flew over straight after the premiere and had a couple of days off actually which has been nice.”

“Very good! What have you been up to, where were you staying?”

“Up on the Gold Coast, yeah. It’s lovely, great beaches.” Taron nodded back, relishing the normal conversation for a little bit.

“Look at that tan, of course he’s been soaking up the sun on the beach for a few days!” Kate said to Tim.

“See I had you down as more of an adventure type of guy, but that’s probably just because of Kingsman and now Robin Hood being so action packed.”

“Yeah, I mean it’s a fair presumption to make… I’m not against a bit of adrenaline seeking by any means.”

“So you didn’t go skydiving then?”

“No, no. I did have some surfing lessons though. It’s something I’ve always fancied trying and the Gold Coast seemed like the best place for a crash course… literally!”

“Oh really?” Kate was quick to jump in. “Now that’s interesting…”

“Yeah?” Taron replied in confusion.

“Sorry, but I do have to ask you this now. Just because you mentioned surfing. Are you familiar with a blog that’s been rapidly gaining popularity in the past few weeks? I was doing some googling earlier and your name kept coming up in relation to it, well it’s more speculation really…”

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re on about.” Taron replied. “I’m not the best with social media and blogging really.”

“No? Okay well it’s turning into like, the rom-com of the year but it’s a blog. I only just came across it today but it’s hilarious and so intriguing at the same time.”

“Right…”

“This woman is blogging about her time spent traveling the world with this guy, David, and they started off as old friends but ended up sleeping together surprisingly quickly and as the weeks have gone on things have been developing. They’ve been having a lot of sex, gone skinny dipping, hiking, to a gig, I think that was my favourite one actually because the classic whisky dick made an appearance! But the last few posts have teased at feelings being discussed and now we’re all left waiting to hear about how and when it happens.”

“If it happens at all.” Tim added sarcastically.

“Oh it’s got to! Everyone’s behind them and this girl’s confidence is growing daily by being with him.”

“So where does Taron come in?” Marty spoke up from the corner of the room.

“Oh yes!” Kate got back to her original point. “Well David obviously isn’t the guy’s real name and so people have been trying to figure out who he is based on where they’ve been and what things they’ve been doing. Now a lot of people think it’s Taron!”

“Ooooh.” Tim and Marty were suddenly way more interested.

“Really?” Taron replied casually despite his heart starting to race from all the dots which were beginning to connect in his mind. He found his fists clenching against his thighs below the desk as far too much of Kate’s description of the blog fitted to the past few weeks. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that people had found your blog, and only now was he discovering that it contained details of his sex life.

“See now you’re sat in front of me I’m not convinced it is you, but when you mentioned going surfing it fit perfectly in with the timing of her last post. They’d left LA for Australia and been surfing, staying somewhere near Byron Bay.”

“Along with thousands of other tourists!” Taron laughed more nervously this time, trying his best to bury his burning anger and keep his actors game face on. 

“Exactly, but that’s when you have to dig back through the blog because not everyone will have been on a famous US chat show and you were on the Late Late Show with James Cordon recently, right?”

“I was.”

“But you seem very clueless so are you denying having any links to this blog?” Kate finally asked him outright.

“This is turning into a bit of an interrogation!” Taron laughed again whilst he deflected her question. “From the sounds of things they’ve tried to be anonymous for a reason so maybe I’m better off doing them a favour by neither denying nor confirming anything… All I will say is that this is news to me though!”

“Diplomatic!” Tim chipped in. “I’m getting daggers from your publicist because we’re not talking about what you’re actually here for so let’s move things on and get onto the movie!”

“Yes, we should. I’m going to cross you off my list of possible men though… Actually a bit disappointed it’s not you. Maybe you’ll end up playing David when it gets made into a movie!” Taron continued to laugh along politely and wait for the topic to be dropped but as soon as the radio show hit the advert break he pulled his phone from his pocket and sent you a text.

Taron: Meet me back at the hotel in about 30 minutes. We need to talk.

No kisses, no jokes, flirting, not even a little T at the end of his text. You frowned down to your phone as you stood next to the monkeys in the zoo and wondered what had happened. Unless he was in a massive hurry he’d have given more details if his schedule had changed. You’d have phoned him back if your battery was showing more than 12% remaining but a text had to do instead.

Y/N: Ok, I’ll get the next bus. Is everything alright? Xxx

The wait for a reply was agonising. You knew that realistically he was in the middle of an interview and would get back to you when he could, but the cold and harsh tone of his text was making alarm bells ring. It would take you at least half an hour to get back to the hotel, maybe longer if the traffic was bad and as you sat on the bus, fighting away the stuffy air by fanning yourself with the map from the zoo you had nothing else to do but overthink what might have happened, and what might be about to happen next.


	20. Chapter 20

Your phone battery kept dropping as you checked it religiously, waiting for a reply from Taron so you had some indication of what was going on, but nothing came through. As you reached out to unlock the hotel door your hand was shaking with nerves. Too many what-if’s had gone through your mind on the bus journey over. Some good, like the image of him waiting to ask you to be his girlfriend and tell you he loved you. But mostly bad. Not that you could pinpoint the cause of the negative tone yet.

“T, what’s going on?” You called out into the hotel suite as you put your bag down and walked through to find him.

“What’s going on…” He laughed to himself as he sat on the end of the bed, sitting up and stretching his arms out behind him. “Maybe you’ll have the answer for me.” His tone was harsh and laced with sarcasm. No warmth came from him so you held your position and waited for him to continue. “Why am I being asked about your blog in my interviews?”

“What?”

“Serious question.” He responded as he looked straight into your eyes and passed the confusion on your face.

“I have no idea.”

“Mmm, thought you might say that.”

“Who mentioned it and what did they say?”

“I was live on air, ready to answer questions about the movie but instead I’m being given a summary of your blog… the new rom-com of the year they called it. Apparently everyone is dying to know who it’s about and I’m top of the list of guesses!”

“Oh.” Words failed you as you took in what Taron had just said. The realisation that your blog was way more popular than even you thought possible suddenly hit home, and the realisation that people knew it was Taron, not David.

“Oh? Is that it? Seriously Y/N!?” Taron stood up from the bed to face you as his anger started to build.

“I don’t know what you want me to say!? I didn’t know about any of this.” You started to get defensive, your voice shaking with nerves as Taron still seemed irrationally angry.

“Why the fuck is my name being linked to your blog!?”

“I don’t know, Taron! I’ve not put it in there, I’ve not said who you are or what you do, I didn’t even mention going to the film premiere!”

“No, you’ve just been blogging about my sex life instead!” He upped his sarcasm.

“Our sex life!” You shot back with a force that also took you by surprise as another piece of the puzzle fell into place. It wasn’t just that Taron’s name had been linked to the blog, this was about what you’d written too. You folded your arms across your chest as you tried to keep your emotions in. You hated confrontation, you hated being accused like this with no warning, you hated how much Taron seemed to hate you right now and you were desperate not to cry. “It’s not just about you. I told you it was more personal than I originally intended.”

“Can’t get much more personal than that.” Taron scoffed. “You still don’t get it, do you?”

“What happened to ‘your blog, your experiences’? You can’t sleep with me and not expect me to count it as an eventful moment of this trip. Especially when I told you I never expected it to happen! What did you want, for me to sign a NDA before I even left the UK!?”

“I’m starting to think that might have been a good idea!” He shouted.

“Right, so you want me to delete it all and pretend it never happened? I’ll act like we never slept together and like I’ve only ever been your oldest childhood friend.” You were trying your best to stay calm and think rationally but the more anger Taron let flow into the room the more worked up you became. “You clearly never wanted anything more than a quick fuck anyway!”

“How can you stand there and say that?” There was a pause before Taron ran the palms of his hands down his face and let out a sigh of frustration. “Do you know how many hours I’ve spent lying awake wondering how I can protect you? Watching you sleep and knowing that one day the press would be onto us, and that when that happened you’d be out that door in a second! I’ve tried to make this easy for you. I pulled so many favours to get us out of LA as soon as possible and all the while you’ve been writing stuff like that… you’re taking the fucking piss! I don’t know why I fucking bothered, Y/N.” Taron started to pace around the room. “I’ve tried to understand you, I’ve tried to empathise and I thought I got it. I thought I got you. But not now! This is… I can’t even… it’s my sex life – out there for the whole world to see!”

“What!? I’ve never mentioned the press, never asked for your protection, I never even asked to leave LA in such a rush so how the fuck am I the one taking the piss? I’m clueless here, Taron! Tell me what’s actually going on?”

“Arrghh!” Taron shouted in frustration as he ran his hand through his hair. “I thought we’d known each other for long enough, we knew each other well enough…I knew you before this was my job. I thought it meant the trust would come easy. It did come easy! It’s not even worth going into because it doesn’t fucking matter anymore.” Taron looked into your eyes again as he shook his head.

“It matters to me. How do you expect me to stand here and take all of this from you when you’ve not been telling me everything?” Your feet were begging you to walk away and get out of there. The pace that Taron seemed to be drifting away from you with was breaking your heart, but somehow you stayed glued to the spot, needing more answers.

“We were photographed kissing at the after party. Jane said they’d got wind of us leaving early and if they’d have known who you were it’d have been in all the LA newspapers and over the internet. If we’d stayed in LA they’d have followed us, been all over us, and started digging for anything they could find. I was trying to save you from that stress by getting out as soon as possible.”

“So why didn’t you just tell me that? I thought we were meant to talk things through like adults.” You knew your tone would piss Taron off but you didn’t care. He couldn’t stand there and have a go at you when he’d been keeping secrets too.

“Really?” The disappointment left Taron’s voice as the anger returned. “Adults know better than to post details about someone else’s sex life online! If you actually cared-”

“I do care!” You interrupted him.

“You’d have thought before you wrote it. Do you have any idea how much damage it could do?” Suddenly the final piece of the puzzle slot right into place. This wasn’t just personal for Taron, there were consequences outside of his control and in that moment you felt all of his fear land on your shoulders and weigh heavy on your heart.

“Fuck.” You sighed.

“Oh so now the penny drops!” Taron laughed.

“How do they know it’s actually you though? I promise you I’ve not put anything up there which would even suggest it… you can read it all for yourself.”

“It’s still all speculation, but the timings and locations pretty much confirm it. I’m not going to be able to deny it forever, but I fucking know it’s going to follow me forever! Bloody whisky dick…”

“Oh god, I’m so sorry, Taron.” The tears finally started to fall down your cheeks as your emotions became too much to handle. The guilt, the fear, the regret. “I’ve fucked this all up.”

“You really have. Well and truly fucked up.” He walked across to the wardrobe next to the bed and lifted your suitcase out into the middle of the room. “Good job we didn’t have time to unpack last night. It’s making this a whole lot quicker.” He threw your passport over to you and it landed at your feet as you made no attempt to catch it.

“You want me to go now?” You looked down at your case with surprise, expecting to at least come up with a plan of how to fix the situation first.

“The sooner the better.”

“Taron-“

“Don’t. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to hear you fucking crying either. It’s pathetic. You’ve brought this on yourself.” He sat down on the side of the bed with his back to you. Years ago you would have had the stubbornness in you that told you to stay and continue the fight, the same stubbornness that made you cling on to your terrible friendship with Jessica even when it was way passed it’s best. But now you knew when to pick your battles and when to let go. Taron always was too good to be true.

“I’m really sorry, T.”

“Enjoy Aber.” Were his last words to you and he knew they’d feel like a knife plunging straight into your chest.


	21. Chapter 21

Numbness. Blurred vision. The overwhelming urge to curl up in a ball on the floor and sob. Somehow your feet kept you moving down to the hotel reception where you found enough of a voice to book a taxi to the airport. Tears fell freely down your cheeks but no one stopped to see if you were ok as you stood outside the hotel waiting for your car. You wanted to believe that Taron would change his mind and come rushing out to find you, just like he had done when you left his side at the film premiere, but you knew it wouldn’t happen. You knew that was it.

The cost of your flight home was put on your credit card, a joyful expense to look forward to paying off for the next 6 months whilst you would no doubt struggle to find a new job back in Aber. It was depressing as hell knowing what life you were about to return to. The mundane, the average, the mind-numbingly dull small talk and social interactions with the same old people in the same old places. At least now you had the heartache to match the pain of life that was written all over your face. Time dragged on in the airport departure lounge as you waited for your flight. The last digits of your phone battery life counted down before the screen turned black. It was the first thing that had made you smile: the irony of it’s darkness matching how you felt inside. Dead.

The films on the flight were all way too happy so you took your chance to curl up in your seat and close your eyes, crying yourself to sleep for a few hours of rest. You ached to be asleep, hopeful that it would bring you peace, but the dreams which followed were far from peaceful. It was all just Taron. Trying to go about the rest of his life whilst people were laughing at him, pointing at him, whispering things to each other in front of him. You could see it was eating him up and that he was slowly losing his mind but every time you reached out towards him it would push him further ahead into his own nightmare of a life. You woke yourself up from crying in your sleep and the woman next to you asked if you were ok. You gave her your best polite smile and nodded. The thought of talking about what had happened was too much, even with the ears of a total stranger on offer. But you could feel your emotions building again. Thought after thought hit the front of your mind and you knew you had to release something just so you felt able to breathe again. You reached down and grabbed your journal from your bag, opening it up to the next blank page and writing down whatever came to mind. It started out as questions. Why me? Why do I fuck everything up? Why didn’t I see it coming? What now? But you soon realised you’d have to put something up on your blog to fill the void of posts that would be deleted as soon as you got home so you started to draft out something more coherent instead.

As you can see this is all that’s here now. Just me. I fucked up and I’m sorry. I thought I was being funny. I thought I was letting the world in on the ridiculousness that my life had become because of him, and I thought having you all laughing along with me was brilliant. What I failed to see was that there was one person who wasn’t in on the joke. One person who ended up feeling like the world was laughing at him instead of laughing with him, and that’s shit. Really shit. Especially considering what he ended up meaning to me.

If I could take it all back I would. No questions asked. But I know I’ll never be able to do that and I know I’ll regret it forever. I can say sorry a million times over but one word can’t undo the damage of the thousands of words I’ve already shared. I’d give and do anything to ensure that he is still able to live his life without this haunting him so I’m asking you all now to drop it. This is my mistake, not his. Don’t punish him for putting his trust in me. He never deserved any of this. He’s too good for this world.

My punishment will last a lifetime. Knowing I betrayed his trust, knowing that I hurt him, let him down, stressed him out and ruined what could have been something amazing. I have to live with that. I have to live with the heartbreak. I have to return to the life that I was so desperate to get away from in the first place. He’d handed me an incredible future on a plate and all I had to do was take it and cherish it. But he’s right. I took the piss and then some.

What’s killing me the most is the loss of the friendship. Before any of this happened we were always mates. We didn’t see each other often but when we did we always had a great time. He didn’t care what life I was living, he just saw me for me. The same me he’d known all his life. Nothing ever really changed between us however much the world around us did. Other friends would come and go, we’d grow up, move away, and come back home… Throughout all that change he was somehow a constant, and only now am I seeing how much I needed that. I needed him long before I knew it. But now I’ve lost all of that too.

Lost.

That’s how I feel.

Not the kid who’s lost their parent in the middle of a busy crowd and is panicking - lost.

Not the sock who got blown off the washing line and ended up in the back of the flowerbed, never to be paired up with his ‘sole mate’ ever again – lost.

More the girl who has nothing ahead of her worth living for – lost.

I don’t know whether I regret not telling him I loved him or not. It’s something everyone wants to hear, and part of me feels selfish for not giving him that moment of happiness. But as I’d said in a previous post, maybe the times when I tried to tell him which didn’t work out were the world’s way of telling me that it was never meant to be. Someone, somewhere, knew that it wasn’t going to work out and perhaps they’ve actually made leaving him easier. Of course it still hurts, but if we’d have both said I love you we’d have been in so much deeper. That’s if he ever really loved me at all…

I guess I’ll never know.

BADQ x

Your tears had dripped freely onto the pages as you wrote, the blue ink dispersing rapidly across the page and blurring your words. There was a brief moment of calm as you signed off the post despite no one else being able to read it yet. Sharing that with the world, knowing how far your blog had actually reached, was daunting to say the least. People had invested their time into your life and you’d left them all on a cliff-hanger. They’d be jumping to read what came next, desperate to piece together the next move in your journey and determined to nail Taron down as David. Suddenly going with your gut instinct, deleting everything and posting that instead, felt wrong. You doubted your judgement. Everything you’d written before had backfired, so what if deleting everything only confirm the rumours. One day Taron’s being questioned about it live on the radio and the next day it’s all been deleted. It would look very suspicious.

You closed your eyes again as you rest your forehead in your hand. Aber was only a few more hours away and your head was still spinning. Everything had changed so quickly. Just as quickly as when you first agreed to travel with Taron. You didn’t know what to do. You didn’t know what was right or wrong, what would help or make things worse, and as the minutes ticked by you got further and further away from the only person who would be able to help you answer those questions.


	22. Chapter 22

The house was silent as you stepped through the front door. No one knew you were coming back but you still expected your mum to be there when you got home. The lack of a welcome party was perfect though. You carried your suitcase up to your room and left it at the end of your bed, collecting your laptop from your desk and immediately switching it on so you could get to your blog. The tears started to fall again as you read every post through from the start. You knew you were torturing yourself by doing it but if you were going to stick to your gut and delete it all then you wanted to read through it one last time. You wanted to strengthen the memories of the good times and try to salvage them before they became tainted by how it had all ended.

There was a smile on your face as the puppies and good looking men of NY took you back to innocent times. Times before anything with Taron was even a possibility. Deleting that post was easy. The night of aroused spooning seemed more sleazy second time around. Part of you wished you’d put a stop to things there. Champagne confidence was bitter sweet. It was the first step towards a more positive you and a more positive outlook but at what cost? ‘Confidence looks sexy on you.’ You shook your head as your heart plummeted down in your chest and you pushed your laptop away from your legs. The image of the way Taron was looking at you that night flooded your memory and you sobbed. He really meant it. He really wanted you.

You couldn’t do this anymore. You couldn’t handle reliving each of your mistakes. Every new post revealing more than the last. It wasn’t just once you’d fucked up but time and time again. You rushed through the delete buttons, clicking away until the page was empty and then finally you could breathe again.

Writing out what you’d written on the flight came with an unusual numbness. There were no tears, no emotions or feelings. It didn’t even feel like it was you. Your body was blocking everything out. The words sat on the page and the cursor hovered over the post button. You knew it was raw, you knew it was honest and you knew you had to post it.

***

It was 2am when you woke up, the jetlag hitting you hard and the anxiety quick to take hold of your body as you remembered where you were and what you’d done. Ignorance may be bliss but curiosity always got the better of you. There was no way your post would have gone unnoticed and through all the pain you were dying for some kind of support. Just someone, somewhere saying they think you’ve done the right thing. But as you logged back in to your blog a new post sitting at the top of the page was the last thing you expected to see.

Y/N,

My talents have never stretched to writing so excuse my poor attempt at this. I don’t know where to start either. I guess sorry is a good place. I was an absolute shit to you and it shouldn’t matter what you’ve done – no one deserves to be treated in that way.

I’ve read it all. (Before you deleted it.) I thought I knew what to expect because it’s been my life as well as yours. When I heard it was about our sex life I was expecting details which would make my toes curl in embarrassment. I thought you’d be rating my performance out of 10 along with the hotel rooms and pillow chocolates! I just saw red and panicked and I never even gave you a chance when I really should have done because I’ve always said you have such a way with words. I don’t hate you for what you’ve written. I can’t even begrudge you the whisky dick chapter because you had me laughing, and you were right too. I was so far gone that I’d have happily told you I loved you repeatedly until I passed out… Making you leave was a stupid knee-jerk reaction. I should have trusted you and I should have given you the chance to show me that your blog is full of happiness and laughter. I keep thinking about where we’d be now if I’d have read it instead of pushing you away…

I thought reading it would validate my actions, confirm that I was right to be angry and upset, but all it’s done is confirm my feelings for you. Feelings that I was too scared to confess. I thought I would push you away, scare you off, and freak you out if I told you how I felt. When we were photographed together I thought that was it. Game over. In that moment I was pleased I’d never told you how I felt. I could see everything ending and being able to play it off as something casual would have given you an easy way out. I didn’t want you to feel trapped by me. I knew you were pushing for *that* chat on the Gold Coast but I couldn’t let it happen. I knew the press would get to us eventually and I wanted you to have your options open because I knew you never came with me with any of this in mind. But now I can see that I was wrong to do that. All I did was make it easier for you to leave because you thought I never felt the same… Thing is I have already told you how I feel, you just don’t know it yet…

The photo I have of us at the top of Runyon Canyon Park was taken just after I told you I was falling for you. You took a photo of my arse and then walked on ahead of me and I said to myself ‘God I’m falling for this girl’. That same night we went to the gig and you made me jealous as fuck. I knew I was in deep when seeing you so happy made me that happy too. I’m pleased you managed to shut me up that night because I’d have kicked myself for telling you when I was that drunk. Then there was the night when we were photographed together. It was on the tip of my tongue all evening but Jane pulled me to one side and reminded me that the press were lurking. I daren’t say it out loud after that but I hope you felt it in what else happened that night because I definitely did. I took a photo of you the next morning sleeping peacefully and looking so beautiful. I told you I loved you then. I have an almost identical photo from the Gold Coast too, with the sun rising over the sea and your perfect naked body in silhouette. It’s my favourite photo. You never heard it but every single morning when I woke up before you I’d tell you I loved you.

I still do love you Y/N.

I’d written all of that whilst you were flying home. I thought about posting it up so you’d have a surprise when you landed but I wanted to see what you’d do first. I wanted to see if you’d delete the blog or stand by what you’d written. Part of me hoped you’d stand by your words and have the confidence to stick your middle finger up at me for being an arsehole, but I knew I stuck the knife in deep with my comment about Aber. It was way below the belt and I’m sorry. Reading what you wrote next has broken me. Knowing that you feel that way, that you’re thinking those things and blaming yourself for everything. It’s killing me. It’s so far from the truth and I wish I could be there in person to tell you that it’s not your fault, that I don’t blame you, hate you, or want you out of my life for good. I promise you you’ve not lost me, my friendship or my love.

Public declarations of love aren’t my style (despite our nude beach adventure that never made it to the original blog!), but I need you to know that whatever happens because of this I still want you, I still need you and I still love you. I know we have a lot to talk about and it’s going to be difficult when you’re now half the world away but just call me whenever you feel ready. I’ll be waiting and I’ll take you back in a heartbeat if you’ll have me.

All my love,

Taron X

Words failed you as you reached the end of his post. You closed your laptop and opened it up again in sheer disbelief that those words were actually on the screen, not just in front of you but there for the whole world to see. Yet more tears graced your face, this time rolling over your smiling cheeks. Your poor heart didn’t know what to do. Reading that was everything. There was absolutely no hesitation as you pulled your charger from your phone and dialled Taron’s number, impatiently waiting as it started to ring.

“Y/N?” Taron questioned from the end of the phone. “I didn’t expect you to call so soon.”

“How could I not?” You felt your voice crack as you replied and before you could stop it a sob escaped at hearing Taron’s voice.

“Hey, noo, shhhh don’t cry. Please don’t cry. I know I’ve been such a dick and I’ve hurt you but I’m so so sorry.”

“I know, and I’m sorry too. I wish I’d never started that stupid blog because it’s made such a mess of everything.” You drew your knees up to your chest and hugged your duvet tightly.

“It’s not. It’s made me face up to my feelings instead of running away from them. Even without the blog I’d have had to face the issue of the press eventually.”

“We’d have faced it together.” You replied softly.

“See, I’ve been such a coward. I should have grabbed you with both hands and never let you go but I pushed you away.” You could hear his voice start to falter. “Spending last night alone, reading through your blog… seeing how wrong I’d got it all and knowing what I’d done. I felt like shit…You’d left your account logged in on my phone so I had to write something, I tried calling but your phone was dead so it was the only way of getting to you. I hope you don’t mind me hijacking it.”

“Of course not! Reading what you wrote just now… I still don’t have the words. It’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me… You shouldn’t have signed it off as you though. People are going to be all over you now and you’re in the middle of a press tour, T!”

“I wanted to. I meant every word up there, Y/N. I don’t care what they say about me. I love you and I want you back. You matter more to me than anything else.” You could hear him crying.

“I love you too. So fucking much.” You replied through your own tears.

“I hate how much I’ve hurt you and I don’t want to lose you, I can’t bear it.”

“T, don’t. You’ve not lost me. I still want to be with you, of course I do!” Saying those words out loud had you smiling. “You make me so happy and I really do love you.”

“God, I wish you were still here so I could hold you and never let you go.”

“I wish I was there too… why the hell am I back in bloody Aber!?” You laughed and finally heard his sweet laugh too.

“I’m coming to get you out again, don’t you worry!”

“You’d better!”

“I’ll be a couple of days but it gives you chance to pack properly. What do you say to leaving Aber for good and living with me in London?”

“Are you serious?!” You covered your mouth with your hand in shock.

“Absolutely! Waking up without you next to me this morning made everything so clear. I want you in my life, Y/N, day and night.”

“Then yes! Yes, yes yes!” You cried out in delight. “I can’t believe this, Taron! My emotions are wrecked. I thought I’d lost everything and now…”

“And now we have the rest of our lives ahead of us, together.” Taron finished your sentence.

“God, I love you.”

“I love you too.” You both paused to take in the moment. You may be half way round the world from Taron but you could feel him smiling, beaming and radiating the exact same love that you were feeling too. It was all going to be okay.


End file.
